Knight no more
by hatten-jc
Summary: The new adventures of Xander and his crew. The sequel to Knight away
1. Chapter 1 to 5

Knight no more

Fiction: Knight no more.  
This is the second part of the KnightVerse story. 

Author: John "hatten" Carlsson

Beta: Corwin Verner (Hawklan) and Inachis

Disclaimer: I do not own anything. Or so I claim, except a strange sense of humor.  
X-over: Probably many. But first is Buffy and Star wars.

Note: If you find errors we overlooked send me an email and I fix them asap. 

Chapter 1

Coruscant, the capital of the known galaxy and the seat form which the Old Republic, the Empire and the New Republic all once ruled from was now the seat of the Galactic Republic. What remained of the New Republic transformed in record time to a paranoid dictatorship, ruled by a small group of rich and powerful worlds and sectors.

It had outlawed Jedi Knights, declared them Knights no more, simply outlaws to be arrested at sight.

It was the wrong world for any Jedi to visit.

Naturally, that did not stop some Jedi.

Rednax, Captain of the Klingon and honest owner of the armed merchant vessel the Klingon, was not the type of person who cared for politics. He was a trader and a mercenary gone legal. Working for the Worf Trading Company, he carried cargo where ever they wanted it to go. Rumors said that Rednax always surrounded himself with good looking and young girls. Most believed he was a pervert or a sex addict. Rednax only grinned like a pervert at the rumors and most of the girls only blushed.

That was what his papers said and that was what the rumors said about him.

Rednax was in fact Jedi Master Xander Harris Solo and the girls were his wife, Jedi Master Jaina Organa Solo and his other wife Danni Solo and their guardians and protectors Rona and Chloe.

For this journey Lexa Harris and the two newcomers Buffy and Willow had also joined them.

The two newcomers and his sister had not been happy about the reputation Captain Rednax had.

Xander just shrugged. "Its Lando's fault, he spread the rumors as a joke. Who knows how it took on its own life, but it protects us. People knew that Jedi Xander flies around in a ship that resembles a Ghatroc and has a ship full of student girls and fighters. So does Rednax, but the difference is that Rednax is a pervert. Put up some nasty pictures on the walls and nobody will question or even consider that the Klingon and the Enterprise might be the same ship."  
Buffy blinked. "That's why you and Danni were hanging up those perverted paintings," she said with sudden realization.

Xander gave her a pervert glare. "If you think Rednax is nasty, just imagine what kind of a girl, a girl must be who willingly becomes a part of HIS crew," he said, giggling as he looked her over.

Buffy and Willow blushed.

Danni smirked, the pictures were nice. If only she could convince Xander and Jaina to have orgies with Buffy and Willow, she quickly dried the drool, and the boys that sometimes joined them.

Lexa and her best friend Dawn were too busy to look at the sights to listen what they were saying. The two 15 year olds were awed by all the new things they could see.

Jaina laughed. "Keep it down. All of you." Coruscant was not the place to be discovered.

It is an impressive, wonderful and scary place. Rumors have it that you can learn about the whole galaxy just by visiting the different areas of Coruscant. So many aliens and visitors had made a permanent imprint of the world city that you could find anything or everything in the cavern like under regions of the town or on the tower like sky scrapers that filled the sky.

"So, what are we going to do?" Willow asked.

Jaina smiled. "We girls are going to the shopping mall, while Rednax over there has fun in a famous strip club," she said, smirking.

Lexa looked at her brother "Uuuh... Why Xan?" she asked.

Xander sighed. "Remember, I'm Rednax and I have friends in those places," he said. He had indeed friends where he was going, friends with important information.

Lexa blinked and then nodded. "Right, but ihks," she said.

Buffy rolled her eyes. The 007 game was a bit irritating, but she understood the need for it. "Right, but being at a mall for the whole time? Not that I complain, but it's not going to take that much time, is it?"

"I said THE shopping mall. It's the greatest single shopping mall in the galaxy. You could spend a month inside and still not see everything." Jaina answered her.

The girls were drooling as Jaina continued, Xander just shrugged. THE Shopping mall was big, but not the biggest in the galaxy. It did have perhaps the greatest assortment of different things from the whole galaxy when it comes to fashion and other things useful in the home. Some of the others that were the same size or bigger were that big because they had weapon traders, armor markets or starships dealers.

"It's not the biggest," Xander said. "That one we visited on Nar Shadda? It's bigger."

Jaina shook her head. "No, that's a market, an inside market. This is a shopping mall." Why could he not see the difference?  
"Shopping malls were made for beings to shop for what they need and have FUN. Markets were made for beings to shop for what they need and go home, right away, directly, now. "

Xander blinked. "No difference. I feel the same way in both places." Unless it was a shop with starship parts, now that was fun to shop in.

Jaina hung her head in defeat. "Aargh, you are a barbarian," she said, disgusted, and her beloved husband just looked proud.

The girls vanished, leaving him alone.

-KNM-

Later in the darker parts of the city

The music was pumping and half nude and totally nude beings were dancing on the stage. Girls of different species, mostly humans and twi'leks, were having sex or doing other exciting things all around.

Xander looked on, trying to be excited and thanks to Danni's help, he did keep up his appearance of enjoyment. As Jedi he could feel that most of the girls that worked here, around 80 % or more, wanted out of the place. They regretted or even hated what they were doing. The feeling of drug use was heavy in their minds.

Danni licked his ears to keep him excited or at least looking excited. This place was awful. Not like a strip club on her planet. The Zeltron's were empaths and only girls or boys that wanted to work were exciting to watch and feel. In this place it felt like most of them were forced to by desperate need or greed, not by excitement or passion. It was awful.

"Rednax, been a long time since I last saw you," a drunk, bearded man, Xander's age, said as he drunkenly sat down beside him.

Xander started. "Sabaco, this is a surprise," he said, shaking the other man's hand. His real name was Athar Karde.

Athar was a street kid, adopted and trained by Talon Karde. The two were unlike most fathers and sons, both cared for the other. Athar wanted to be all that Talon was and more. To keep his dreams and the legacy of the Karde name alive. Talon was just happy to have an eager student and that was exactly what Athar was, a great student in the art of smuggling, spying and information gathering. Not even Mara Jade had known about Athar until Talon Karde had told her about him one year ago.

Athar smirked. "So Rednax, is she your girl only or are you shearing her?" He grinned and grabbed Danni at the breast.

Xander smiled. "Danni, do you think you need more man than I am?" he said, looking at the other.

Danni smiled suggestively as she stopped Athar's hand with her own. Massaging his fingers and slowly, tenderly kissing his hand, she quickly let a small data card fall into his hand. While she massaged his hand, she also removed a data card from his hand.

The change of information was done and nobody could see it.

Athar's grin widened. "Don't look like that to me," he said smugly.

Xander rose up, looking angry as he grabbed Athar. "Listen Sabaco. We might be coworkers sometimes, but piss me of like that and I put your head into a meat grinder. Understand?" he said.

Around them the music silenced.

Athar nodded. "Yea sure," he said. The information exchange was done. "Listen, don't think you can piss me of too much. There are guys with hostile guard snakes. Do you get it Rednax?" he said as he pushed Xander's arms away.

Xander nodded. "I get it." Guard snakes. Hostile guard snakes, if what Athar said was true than the Republic was growing Ysalamir, the force lizards that neutralized the use of the Force around them.

Jedi hunters.

Meeting in this place meant that Athar wasn't sure about the security of his fake id or Xander's fake id, and thus a theater was played. He could sense that Athar had watchers. They didn't seem to care about what was seemingly taking place. So it seemed to have worked.

"Sabaco, if you still need work, Worf Trading does like to hire competent people," he said, pretending to offer his friend work.

Athar shrugged. "I'm not desperate yet, but if I need a lift, I may ask you." not that he would. He had other escape ways planned. "I'm starting to feel too sober. See you later," he said as he walked back to the bar.

Danni squirmed against Xander's side. "Let's go to our room and have some fun. All this fighting's gotten me all excited," she said in her best I'm so brain dead voice.

Xander nodded as he groped her on the way out. "Sure sugar sure." Both of them felt that Athar watchers ignored them. Believing they were just what they pretended to be, a pervert starship captain and his whore.

-KNM-

At the same time

"I refuse." Buffy said. "No way is a shopping mall going to defeat me," she cried out.

Beside her Jaina, Willow, Lexa, Dawn, Rona and Chloe were sitting, hanging by the walls or on a chair near a cafe. "I thought she was the vampire slayer and not the mall slayer," Chloe said.

Jaina sighed. "Buffy, there are over 600 cubic km of shopping stores built in this mall. Give up, you visited four or five percent of the human stores today. That's 19 hours of nonstop no rest shopping. We're dying here. Please give it up, it's too much."

Dawn's legs were trembling as she stood on a repulsor platform. "No, we have to keep shopping. Never surrender."

Jaina slapped her hands over her face. "You've collapsed twice Dawn. Give up." She and Danni were the only ones who knew about Lando and Xander's private bet.

Now she understood why Xander had refused to follow Buffy into a shopping mall. At first she believed Xander was an idiot, taking that the risk and the bags of goods they had somehow gotten extra price on was huge.

"Please, I'm dying," Willow whined. At first she had been so happy that the kind old Lando Calrissan had given them an almost unlimited credit-stick that they could use inside the shopping mall, but in the hands of Buffy it looked like a sure sign of doom.

-KNM-

Later in the ship

Xander was not confused or shocked as a repulsor taxi stopped outside the ship and a driver asked if he could help him off load the tired sleeping passengers and a truck load of gods they had. He was a bit surprise that it literally was a truckload; a second repulsor skiff was parked behind the repulsor cap.

Loaded with stuff, it must've been 9 tons of stuff.

Xander grinned. Lando would be so pissed off. He had managed to win a bet against Lando. He had said something about them being fine moneywise unless he let Buffy and Dawn go on a shopping spree. Those two girls could spend a fortune. Lando had laughed and said that that was fine. No way those two girls could spend that much and a second bet was made.

Buffy, Willow, Dawn, Rona and Chloe had to be kept uninformed about the bet. The credit-stick would work only for 20 hours from the moment the first things were paid for or until 4 million credits were spent, whichever came first. They would have to shop for more than 1 million, if not, the CGT in the Enterprise would be Lando's CGT and it was worth much more than 4 million and if the girls did manage to shop for more than a measly million, 10 % of the final bill would be his and Jaina's.

(CGT = Crystal Gravity Trap.)

Seeing the price tag, he grinned again. Sweet, over 3 million in useless stuff, that would be over 300 000 credits for him and Jaina.

Danni, also knowing about the bet, was in awe. She had asked Buffy that she would buy something for both of them and she apparently bought something for all of them and more and what is an aqualis bio light?

Xander blinked, reading the instruction. It was filled with a glowing plankton like lifeform, as long as normal air surrounded it, it would glow. If the air ever became stalled or dangerous for human life forms, the bio light would die.

"Nice, better than a bird," Xander said, remembering how they used birds in cages to see if the air was breathable in the old mines on Earth.

The bio light looked like a small painting, glowing with white, yellow, green, red, pink and blue light, constantly and slowly shifting the color. It reminded Xander of a lava lamp. That would be something to hang on the wall, kind of a hippy thing.

-KNM-

At the same time

Republic intelligence HQ

"So what can you tell me about the activity of the girls?" The officer said as he stared at the two tired agents.

"They are crazy, absolutely crazy. They spend more than 3.400000 creds in there," the first agent said.

The other added. "They got me a new body cloak and boots," she shrugged. "I got too close and the blond one started to buy things for me, until she realized I wasn't part of her gang." She shivered. "It was crazy and I'm keeping the cloak and the boots."

The officer nodded weakly. "Right, if the report is correct, then Rednax is just a trader, a successful trader, with a tendency of going around with a shipload of hired whores. A stupid way of spending your money," he sighed. "And I was so sure he was a Federation agent and a Jedi."

One of the agents nodded. The other was looking at her new boots. They really did look good on her.

-KNM-

Next day

Xander was happy. 340 500 credits were his and Jaina's. Buffy, company and he had anything they would ever need in useless stuff. Looking at a portable micro nav-computer, he mentally added, and some useful objects too, if it actually worked as advertised.

Jaina's legs were still tired after the shopping day born in a twisted Sith torture chamber.

Whatever power the Summer's girls had inside a shopping mall was a terrifying thing to behold.

In the galley Xander was sitting behind the holo-theater, watching death reports.

"It's here right?" she asked him.

A moment he seemed to ignore her. Then he slowly looked at her. "No, I don't think so. The Beast has changed his standard way of hunting," he said. "It seems to be smarter than the other monsters."

On the holo picture they could see a picture of a Duros with her neck ripped open and the blood drained.

Jaina shivered. "Vampire."

Xander just nodded.

Chapter 2

-Flashback- 

Shesharile 5

Crunsh, a Lieutenant in the special swoop law unit, had seen much, but this was not normal. "Master Xander, what do you make out off this?" he asked his friend, THE Jedi Master of the Shesharile system.

The Jedi looked pensive as he noted the signs. Three humans with their necks ripped open, but no sign of blood left in their bodies.

"Something that should not exist," he said with hunted eyes as he looked at Crunsh. "Did any of the droids or security cameras get a recording?" he asked.  
Crunsh nodded. "Looked mighty strange," he walked up to the smaller guy and said: "Listen Rednax we're friends, right?" The Jedi nodded as the Lieutenant used the fake name he once used to infiltrate them. "The guys here were dealers, Death Sticks, the works, and even body organs. If they could earn money, they did it," he looked pensive. "We've been hunting them for months now, then this. Whoever did this, did us a favor, but this is not an act done by a onetime criminal. Whoever killed them enjoyed it and the next time his target might be an innocent. So tell me who or what did it."  
Xander nodded. "Is that all of the gang?" he asked.

Crunsh frowned, "No. Two bodies are missing. We found evidence of their bodies, some blood and body tissues that indicate that they were also killed. Why? "

Xander sighed. "I hope I'm wrong. This is of the record, until I got evidence of what it is. DO not put it on any official record, got me Crunch?" He saw that the big ex- biker agreed. "It's a parasite, a vampire parasite. It takes over a body when it's on the brink of death. The infection is almost direct.

Consciousness, compassion, love and care, it's all gone. What is left is a monster, a monster that can create more of his breed. I hope I'm wrong. I really do hope it's just another sick mass murderer," he said, sensing a disturbance, a deep dark feeling of wrong. The dark side of the Force had been strong in this room only days before.

Crunch frowned. "I see."

-KNM-

Later in the record room of the law officers

The tech talked constantly, carrying a cup of cav and a bag of sweet bread with him. "The holo-recording is like a bad jump," he said.  
(Bad-Jump = mistake in Hyperspace travel. Bad things happen. Bad Jump = something really bad, strange or scary has happened.)

Xander nodded. "Just like my honeymoon, then," he said with a smirk.

Crunsh laughed. He had heard from both Jaina and Xander about their honeymoon from hell. "Yea, I remember that story."

The tech perked up curiously. "What? What happened?"

Xander shook his head. "Nothing much, my wife and me were just attacked by some enemies. Spend most of the time fighting or running for our lives."

The tech nodded. "Bad jump. Right, watch this," he said.

The record was a bad holo, made by a R4 unit guarding his master's repulsor car. Outside the car they could see dead guy no 1 and dead guy no 2 carrying a blanket with something human sized rolled into it. As the two criminals dropped the bag, he could see part of a human head; the rest was hidden by the blanket.

"It's not smoking," he said to himself. It could survive in sunlight.

The second recording was from one of the criminals' own cameras.

The dead guy was standing up. Now you could see the face. It was vampirish, but twisted, like the master of Sunnydale. The vampire himself seemed shocked about something. He was watching something on the wall and was touching his own face before he smashed his fist in the wall in a fit of rage.  
Now Xander knew what it was the vampire had been looking at, as a fragment of the mirror landed before the vampire. "Stop the record. Can you zoom in on the fragment of the mirror?"

The tech nodded. Xander frowned. It had a reflection. The potential slayer mutated. Buffy and Willow had almost died. Tony said it felt like something had been removed from their bodies and souls when they came to this universe. The Slayer spirit and the ability to use magic were gone, but some power was keeping them alive, letting the Force slowly replace what had been removed.

A mystical power leaked out of the girl Dawn, Buffy's sister, which kept the other two alive and perhaps kept this vampire alive as well, until it could adapt to the dark side. Buffy's sister had also been surprised, but Buffy had explained it. Dawn held the power of the Key, a dimensional key.  
It felt almost like the vortex he himself could control.

It explained how they were alive. The source of the reason why they came here was a wish. Apparently a vengeance demon took the chance to save the world by removing the Key from the grasp of a hell goddess. Dawn's body to had adapted and changed to fit in this universe. He wasn't sure she even had the key inside of her any more or if it too had been changed or even destroyed.

A vampire, a mutated Dark-force vampire, he shrugged. "Right, normal record thanks."

Crunsh frowned. Xander had seen something in that close up, but what?

The criminals heard the sound of the breaking mirror and the vampire attacked them. Some blood splashed by. The sound of fighting was heard and then there was silence, a moment later the sound of somebody screaming in Basic and another voice in English. Xander translated. "He's asking Victim no 3. Where am I? Tell me or I kill you."

Then the sound of a dying criminal.

The vampire was back, cleaning himself in the bathroom.

He walked out again. "No wait, move back." The tech pulled the recording back.

Crunsh gaped at what he saw. "Spawn of the Sith" he said in awe. The vampire was moving back and forth, almost invisible. You could see the room on the other side of the body, like a living shadow.

Xander sighed. A sound of a door opening and Criminal no 4 came into sight. Then again the sound of a battle, outside of the camera's eye, then a sudden move and the camera fell down on the floor, aimed at the right direction. He could see what was happening in the room again.

Criminal no 4 was on the floor, drained off blood, and the vampire was feeding him his blood.

"I can give you a close up," the tech said.

Xander nodded. "Do that." he said.

Once again the vampire was bending over and feeding blood to the dying criminal no 4. Blood was pouring out when suddenly something big left the vampire's body and landed on the floor. A blood red worm, it dried up and turned to dust in less than a minute. The vampire moved away from the body, watching. Then he walked out. He returned half an hour later carrying a teenage girl.

The sound of the girl screaming and begging for mercy and also the sounds of an ongoing rape were heard.

-KNM-

Eight hours later

Criminal no 4 sat up screaming.

The vampire gave him the girl and then he fed the dying teenager blood from the criminal, showing him how to turn others. An argument started between them. With one of them not understanding English and the other Basic, vampire no 2, formally known as criminal no 4, activated a translator droid.  
Xander frowned. "They had a translator droid in the bathroom?" The tech shrugged.

"The recording stops about here." The tech said. "A short moment later the two must have gone away. From the fact that the Translator is missing, they must have taken that and the girl's body with them."

Xander looked at the recordings. "I need a copy. That Crunsh, is a vampire, and it just created two more vampires." He looked at the big strong ex swooper. "No compassion, no sense of right and wrong. They hunt in packs and like you said. Spawn of Sith."

There was silence.

"Bad jump," the tech guy said again.

He was right.

-KNM-

They had found the girl four days later.

She had sneaked away to murder her old school friends just because she wanted to be a cool criminal. Crunsh had helped him keep the capture a secret. What they found was interesting and could perhaps be considered torture.

1. The vampire girl was alive. Her heart beat was 1/6 of a normal human and she needed air to breathe, but less than a normal human.  
2. The face was twisted into a permanent vampire face.  
3. The body had strange worms inside of it. They were around 4 cm long. It seemed they carried the vampire's sickness over to the infected.  
4. She was strong, perhaps 3 times stronger and faster than a normal girl.

They had seen the vampire turn into a shadow. It could cloak itself, and both mortal eyes and sensors had a hard time spotting them. They were not invisible, just difficult to see, and it showed the power of mind manipulation. The teenager seemed less smart than she had been before, more willful and aggressive, less in control of her emotions. Anger, lust, hunger, hate and envy ruled her and worst, it hated any Jedi because they used the lightside of the Force. It felt it inside of them and hated them for it.

The new breed could be weaker in physical things than normal vamps, but they had powers that could affect the mind. Mirrors and holy symbols did not work. Sunlight or normal light hurt their eyes. They were extremely light sensitive. They could eat normal food, but they also needed blood or they would become weaker, while draining the blood and absorbing the life energy from another living being often seemed to enhance their strength and speed.  
The light sensitive eyes explained the sunglasses she had had on in a half dark room.

They could be hurt by using Force Light. It burned away the worms inside of their bodies and that was what had killed her. The body slowly turned to slime in front of their eyes and so began the great vampire hunt on Shesharile 5.

Later, the vampires showed they were hard to kill and could survive twice as much damage as a human could. Unless you got a direct killing shot, they healed in minutes or hours, depending on how damaged they were.

A month later Buffy was moving again and, with the help of Rona and Chloe, fifteen vampires had been killed. The infection here was over, but Crunsh found out one was on a ship going to the core worlds.

End flashback.

Chapter 3

Xander mused: "So, from what I can see, our friend is hunting and creating a new brood, only one or two, no more. It seems like he limits the number of turned vampires in his service. Only the most obedient need ably."

Jaina nodded. "It's still a danger. We have to hunt it down," she said.

Xander wasn't so sure about that. "Feel it Jaina. The Beast has left the planet, yesterday or even today. What's here now, are just leftovers or worse, a distraction."

Jaina frowned as she felt around. Xander was right. They could feel the presence of a vampire, just not where it was. "Unless he's hiding on the other side of the planet far away from us," she said.

Xander nodded. "I give you that, but no, I don't think our friend is here anymore. This is a smart guy. He's looking for something. There are too many guards and soldiers, too many dangers on this world. No, he wanted out of here. Whatever is left is a distraction and a distraction we either have to deal with or trust that the natives can handle them," he said, frowning. The Beast was a former scholar that had turned mercenary thief during the war, too smart and tricky for comfort. He had kept the alpha vampire from Earth alive, but then dusted him once he knew nothing more of value.

Jaina frowned. She remembered the deaths the vampire they had hunted had created on Adarlon thanks to the Beast. Revenge is not an act worthy of a Jedi. Justice is. If they hunted the Beast then the monsters on Coruscant would run free, but if they stayed to clear Coruscant, then the Beast would escape and unlike normal vamps he showed more intelligence and less emotion. The others seemed to lack control. Unless the Beast was around to control them, they feasted too much on mortals and started too many fights between each other to survive for long.

The Beast seems to be able to control a pack of the other vampires. Xander said it was an alpha vampire. Buffy and Willow, after seeing the evidence, argued about the differences between the Slayer and the Guardians, and he even calls himself Beast.

Buffy liked the new name. "Guardians," her own powers were still weak. She had to relearn to use them again and it was different, she could feel that. The more she learned about channeling the Force, the stronger she became physically. From what she saw Rona and Chloe do, she knew that the Guardians were not as strong as she had been as a Slayer.

Chloe's precognitive ability were superior to anything she had ever seen as the Slayer and Rona's learning ability rivaled what she could do. Willow's theory was that the difference in the darkside and the power of demons created different weaknesses among the vampires, and that perhaps the Beast, as they called him, was seeking a darksider.

After all, the Guardians had sought out Jedi Knights and Jedi Knights seemed to be seeking them out, even before they knew what the other was.  
Which was exactly what Xander had said, Jaina pointed out, Willow and Buffy just rolled their eyes, they were not surprised at all, duh, Xander is a vampire hunter after all, of course he'd understand.

-KNM-

Evening on a planet that never sleeps

Deep down below, under the city streets, in the overbuild ruins and caves created by generations of old buildings, a catacomb that was as endless as the streets above, but much more dangerous. Mutated life forms, old pets and monsters lurked down here, and also beggars, streets rats and drug dealers.  
To Buffy and Willow's surprise, Jaina knew her way around this place.

Xander smirked. "She and her brother used to sneak out from the palace like building they lived in and play with their friends down below."  
Willow gabbed. "What and their mother let them?" she asked in shock.

Jaina laughed. "Mom was then the Minister of State, the president of the New Republic until she retired. It wasn't that she let us. We sneaked out leaving poor C3P0 and Uncle Chewbacca behind. As it was, our trusty Noghri bodyguards kept a silent eye out on us, but they didn't let us know that they'd followed us. It was years later that I was told about that. They had a big photo album with holo-pictures of us doing stupid things like climbing deep cliffs or exploring unstable ruins. All the time when I believed our adventure lust had nearly brought us to an early grave, a Noghri was nearby and ready to save our foolish necks if need be. The first time we did it, we were 7 years old and we kept it up until we were 15," she smirked. "But we became friends with Zeek down here and also with King Onibald Daykim of the hidden refugee city," she said, smiling at the childhood memory. "Unlike Mom and Dad, the Noghri approved, our adventure lust was a good sign for them."

Buffy giggled. "A king of a hidden refugee city, it sounds strange," she said and then fell silent.

"Hawkbats," Jaina pointed out around them, over a canyon so big it looked like it was trying to become the Great Canyon, with edges of duracreate steel and hidden deep underground. It was still magnificent, illuminated by lamp fungus, one of the rare plants that could eat duracreate.

Willow was puzzled. "Where is that light coming from?"

Buffy shrugged. "The fungus I think."

Jaina nodded. "Once you hit deep enough, the buildings become old and weakened, that's where the lamp fungus grows." She waved her hand. "Let's move it. Hawkbats are dangerous, especially in large numbers."

They sneaked forward.

Xander cloaked them as they found one of the hidden refuges.

It was a city under the city. It had its own laws and government. The poor and the broken from above had found a new life in the underground, trading what little they could find, steal or hunt.

Jaina moved unhindered as they walked in. A mild mind manipulation around them was enough to make others ignore them or believe they belonged.  
"I'm tired." Buffy eventually said. "Where are the suckers?" she asked Xander.

He shrugged. "Do you feel anything Buffy, Chloe, Rona?" He could feel them, not in which direction they were, just that they are there.  
Chloe nodded. "Yes, it's that way, a sick and corrupted feeling." She swallowed.

Rona frowned. "I think she may be right. I'm not sure, it's weak." They had found out that Chloe was a tracker. Something about the darkness gave her the ability to track anything using the darkside of the Force over an impressive range. All of the Guardian could feel the difference between a dark side Force user and a lightside user. Chloe did it on a far longer range and with greater detail.

They looked at Buffy.

She sighed. "You know I'm not fully trained yet," Buffy said.

Rona defended her against herself. "But you were THE Slayer, the greatest in over a thousand years."

Buffy sighed some more. "Right, I was the greatest because Willow and Xander followed me home and my Watcher let me keep them."

Willow gave an irritated hrumph at that. "I'm not a dog."

Xander nodded. "HEY," he said in a mock insulted voice.

Buffy grinned as she focused. "Let's see, nothing. Wait a moment. No, nothing, and what's that? Oh, Xander and Jaina, they feel nice, have to protect them.  
Let see, nothing again. Nothing, no, there was something. Uuu. Uuu. Something is stinking in that soul."

"Um that way I think, it's stinky," she said frowning, pointing ahead.

Xander nodded. "Exactly the same way Rona and Chloe said." he smiled.

Buffy snorted. "Hey, what do you expect from the greatest Slayer in a thousand years?" she grinned.

Chloe grinned. "That you can find a dog and keep it."

Xander frowned. "Hey, I am not a dog."

Willow nodded vigorously. "Me neither."

Buffy struck a pose. "Worship me, I'm the greatest!" she said and then started to giggle as Rona and Jaina started bowing in front of her. She sat down. "I need a rest. My strength is still not up to Guardian level or even up to my cheerleader level." The near death experience had drained her or perhaps she had been using her Slayer strength without improving her normal strength by training and now without her Slayer strength… Even Willow looked more refreshed than she did.

After joking a bit and resting, they continued.

Walking in the dark, Willow could not help herself as she watched Xander.

He had grown up so much and changed. Yet he was still the same as always. She knew he was much smarter than he pretended to be. During his first year in school his father had called him a sissy because he liked math, history and languages and was a good student in class. A month later Xander's grades started to slip. He started to act stupid and become the class clown, until even she believed that he was stupid.

Perhaps even Xander had believed that he was stupid. Seeing Tony and Jessica Harris there, she had been irritated. Then she found out that THIS Tony and THAT Jessica were completely different from what Xander had grown up with. That version of Tony and Jessica were good parents, helpful and kind and Alexandra or Lexa was a funny young girl who reminded her so much of Xander. Her story about having the 4 years older Jessie and Larry as her protectors and big brothers was sweet.

Finding out that HER alternate self was a bigot who disliked psionics and was the queen of the school, the bane of Jessie and Larry's life, a real Bitch, now that was scary, but Lexa was fast becoming friends with people, especially with Dawn. Lexa and Xander had already become brother and sister and she hang around her new big brother or Jaina as much as possible, helping them to train the Jedi. Lexa's own Psi powers where growing. It took time and normal training time for a Psi was anything between 2 years to 25 years before they had mastered all the abilities their powers gave them.

A normal Psi power had around 11-14 different abilities, each related to each other. Once you'd learned one ability, you could learn another one. Some of the abilities could combine to create a new effect or give you access to yet another ability, but such abilities demanded that the user truly mastered them, not just learned to use them.

Then there were the PSI-strength and PSI-Endurance. According to Tony, Psionics were born with a limited 0same time and the PSI-Endurance was how much psionic power you could have inside of your body. PSI-Endurance was something you could train and get stronger in. It was rather how much gas a car has in the gas-tank. The PSI-Strength was the engine of the car.

Jessica had a low PSI-Strength, but her constant use of her empathic ability had given her a high level of PSI-Endurance. Even if most of her psi-abilities were simply too weak to be all that useful, she could use them all day and more before running out of power. Compensating for her weak PSI-Strength, she had trained for years in improving her PSI-Endurance, making the abilities she could use extremely effective.

Tony on the other hand had a slightly above normal level of PSI-Strength. His endurance was also high, but nowhere near Jessica's. Jessica's less dangerous and harmless empathy and mind-reading ability was one she could use non-stop for the whole day without anyone knowing. That had made her endurance higher than off most other PSIs.

Tony's PSI-Healing abilities demanded something to use them on. His PSI-endurance had first begun to improve when he started to work in the hospital and was detoxifying a patient who had had too much to drink or had been bitten by a snake.

Lexa showed promise in both PSI-strength and PSI-Endurance. So far her PSI-Strength was larger than her endurance though. She could empty her PSI-Endurance in one single use of her PSI-abilities. Much of the training she was doing was to increase her small endurance so it could keep up with her high level strength. As a kinetic she could easily train her PSI-Endurance by using a kinetic shield for a longer and longer time each day.

Lexa had mastered how to use psychokinesis to resist physical damage with a kinetic shield (Protects only against physical objects.) To kinetically hold somebody and trap him so he was unable to move was an ability she had to touch someone to use. It was a great ability to use in combination with wrestling. Somebody who had mastered Kinetic-hold could combine that with Kinetic-attack and trap somebody at a distance.

Those were the power she knew how to use, then came the powers she was still training in.

The second power was vibration sense, also called Kinetic vision, using Psychokinesis like a blind feeling herself around with her hands. Then came enhanced move, using Psychokinesis to improve your speed of movement. Each led to a different new ability. Vibration sense would lead to telekinesis, then super jump, and finally to Kinetic attack. Lexa really wanted to master Kinetic attack, since then she could use Kinetic-hold from a distance. Enhanced move led to the ability Walk on fluids and eventual to the ability to walk on air. Once she mastered both sides, she would be able to learn how to fly.

Vibration sense and Enhanced move must really be hard to learn though. Kinetic shield was still cool, Lowbacka could hit her shield at full strength at least once and she would not be hurt, and she'd finally gotten her Kinetic-Hold power so strong that Lowbacka actually felt resistance when he tried to break her hold on him. That took all her PSI-Endurance to do though. Once her endurance was large enough that she could use her full PSI-Strength, she knew she would be able to hold a Wookiee, but she was stuck with vibration sense and enhanced move.

Tony only smiled at his daughter and said that some powers could take months to learn. Just keep at it. Her mother and father were no help, both of them were psionic sure, but one was a telepath and the other a healer.

It was fascinating how different the power of each born PSI was.

Willow was trying to learn as much as possible, because she had changed. The magic in her body and soul had been removed, ripped out of her, and something new had entered her. A new power existed in her.

What it was? No idea, she had't yet asked Xander as she was afraid of him knowing about it. The Force was Xander's and she did not want to intrude, yet she wanted something for herself so much.

Willow blinked, they were already there, shrugging she focused on the here and now.

The room had once been a big dinner room with plenty of smaller rooms that might have been corridors and a kitchen once. Now it was half crushed, but it was the base of the vampires. Plenty of smaller rooms and corridors littered the place. Crawl ways connected them with each other, making it easy to hide in.  
Xander nodded. He felt them now. Where they were, he could not tell, but they were near.

Chloe gasped in terror at seeing a pile of dead bodies. Rona swallowed. Each of the bodies' had been drained and eaten from.

Buffy felt sad and disappointed with herself. She was so used to piles of dead bodies that she wasn't really shocked or surprised by the sight, just sad.  
Vampires.

Chloe's gasp echoing in the room had awakened the suckers.

Seeing the heavily armed strangers, the nine vampires lifted primitive clubs made form iron bars and duracreate. Four of them held real vibro knifes. From what Xander saw, they had no long distance weapons.

"Ready?" he asked.

Rona, Chloe and Buffy activated their shield gauntlets. Rona and Chloe also activated lightsabers. "Born ready," Rona said, smirking.

Buffy pulled up a Dl-44 blaster pistol. She really wanted her own light stick. "I wanted my own light-stick," she pouted.

Xander, Jaina, Rona and Chloe turned and screamed "Lightsaber," at her in perfect unison.

Buffy shrugged. "If it looks like a light-stick, it's a light-stick."

They growled, irritated at her words.

The vampire blinked. The Jedi had forgotten all about them. "Let's attack," one said.

It started to move with a speed faster than a human by at least 5 times, showing it had fed on blood within the last six hour period. Normally they were around three times the speed and strength of a human. Without blood for 2 days or more, they grew weaker until they were down to normal human strength, but with fresh blood recently drunk, they could improve up to 4-6 times the speed and strength of a normal human.

The blood did not have to be human, most aliens or even animals worked. Hell, some of the vampires were aliens. They had seen a Duro vampire.

As the first one attacked, Jaina activated her lightsaber and with one cut removed its two arms as she side stepped. Then, as it started to stumble, she sliced down from the vampire's left shoulder to the hip on the right side, burning the vampire in half.

Xander just waved his hand, sending two vampires flying into a wall so hard they were crushed and turned into slimy goo.

Rona was fast. She dodged and cut low, bringing one crashing down as his legs were gone from his body. She then cut with an upwards motion, splitting a second vampire in half.

Chloe, slower than the vampire and Rona, and far less skilled, had a hard time of it, but she knew where it was going to attack even before it knew where it was going to attack.

As fast as she could, she parried the attack, cutting the vampire's arms in half.

As it screamed, she removed the head and then kicked out with her legs, making a vampire trip over her feet.  
Rona slashed down at the vampire by her feet, burning up its heart, dusting it.

Buffy just lifted her gun from behind her back. "Boom, boom," she said as the two last vampires' heads were burned up. "Hey, I like this gun. Could I get a bigger one and a light-stick?"

Willow looked at her uncomfortably. "Um Buffy, I think they get angry if you call it a light stick."

-KNM-

Later

"Klingon, your hyper- space exit is in 25 minutes, enter flight vector 225.025.200. Star acceleration at 40 Mglt. No racing in the space lane," the voice of ground control said over the PA as they slowly flew away from the capital of the republic.

"I thought it would be more exciting," Buffy said from her seat in the back.

Willow, sitting near her, nodded. "I know, more like Star Trek or Babylon Five. Swoosh and they are away. This feels like, like an airport," she complained.  
The depressed voice of Xander agreed. "It is. Big worlds like Coruscant move like snails."

Buffy nodded. "So where are we going then?" she asked.

"Byblos. The most likely ship our Beast could be on was on its way there and Lando is also there. Byblos is in the colonies."  
Willow perked up at that. "Ooh, the colonies, are they far away?" she asked.

Xander snored. "No, it's right next door. 19 hours in hyperspace and the Enterprise can make the journey in 14 hours. Let me explain how the regions lie between each other. From the center of the galaxy, the deep core region is a new area that has been populated. The core worlds region is the old human home worlds. The Colonies region, where the first human colonies were created like a millennium ago, the Inner Rim region, then Expansion region, the Mid Rim region, Outer Rim region and at last the Wild space," he grinned. "Then we have the Unknown Regions."

He grinned. "And it gets better. Each of the regions contains thousands or millions of sectors and clusters, which have themselves hundreds or thousands of stars. Now we only count stars that have the potential of housing life. That means about 10 % have a planet with some kind of life. The Minos cluster is the place where the Shesharile system and Shesharile 5 and 6 are. You know, my home on Shesharile 5. Now, Shesharile has around 100 solar systems that have worlds that could in theory host life. Remember what I said about 10 percent?"

He grinned, seeing Willow and Buffy pale. "That's 1000 stars without life caring planets in the cluster," Willow said.

Buffy cleared her throat. "Um, a question. Why is Minos a cluster and not a sector? What is the difference or did they just like cluster along or something?"  
Jaina nodded. "Good question and you're right, they do cluster along. A sector is a group of star systems bound together by being close and having common economical and political interests or a common ancestor. Like the Duros sector, it's all over the place. No, what's different with a cluster from a normal sector is that the starts are closer together, bound together by their gravity fields. "

Willow nodded. "A star cluster," she said, "but why is sometimes a journey half way across the galaxy like a week or two and yet it takes days to travel across the Minos cluster?"

Xander shrugged. "Hyperspace routes, the ships hyperspace engine classification just tells you how fast it can move and accelerate in hyperspace. Minos has lots of space junk like lost moons floating around that you have to drive around unless you want to collide with them. Every object in NORMAL space leaves a deadly shadow in hyperspace. While the big hyper routes have nothing in the way and you can let the hyper drive run wild and reach faster speeds, in areas like the Minos cluster you have to be careful and reduce your speed."

Buffy frowned. "Hyperspace, don't really get it," she said.

Willow nodded, hoping her friends would have a good answer.

Jaina nodded. "Nobody knows what hyper-space really is, but what we do know is that it's impossible for ANY object to stand still in hyperspace, just like light-speed is impossible in normal space, but there seems to be no upper level of speed you can reach, in theory. Ships that enter hyperspace do not really enter. We skim on the surface between hyperspace and normal space. Objects in both hyper and normal space can affect us."

Xander nodded. "Jaina's dad Han Solo - you're going to like him he is an honest to God pirate - his ship the Falcon has a 0.5 hyperspace-drive. That means that his ship accelerates with half the speed of light in hyperspace. My ship accelerates with 75 % of the speed of light."

Buffy nodded. "Um." She frowned as she did her math. "Even with hyper-space, if you only accelerate with the speed of light, wouldn't a journey take like hundreds of years if the galaxy is that big?"

Jaina explained. "37 000 parsecs from one end to the other, one parsecs is 3.26 light years long. It also has the Rishi Maze, a dwarf galaxy that's on its way to merge with our galaxy in a million years or so. It's part of both Wild Space and the Unknown Regions as it's almost unexplored. A second bigger satellite galaxy, that's considered part of Unknown Regions, because it's unknown. To get there you have to breach the hyperspace barrier across the border of the galaxy. The barrier is disturbances; inter galactic junk carried along by the galaxy movement in space. It can be breached using hyperspace engines, but it is not easy to navigate and using ion engines it would take one hundred years to breach it."

Willow frowned. "That didn't answer the question. Even with speed many times above the speed of light, how can a journey from one end of the galaxy to the other take a month or less?"

Jaina nodded. "Hyperspace," she said, grinning. "The distance between two points in normal space is longer than the distance is inside hyperspace. Try to understand the physics of hyperspace and you go nuts. The geography is hard enough for us to have to use Nav-computers. In the old days they used computer maps, a calculating program and hoped for the best."

Xander leaned back in his seat. "Then comes the final point of interest, less than half the galaxy is explored, during the days of the Old Republic the Jedi bragged that they had a computer archive off the whole galaxy. What they did not say was is that it only contained data on the whole of civilized space."  
He looked at Willow. "When the Empire took over, many worlds and even some sectors spent millions off credits to hide themselves."

Buffy was puzzled. "How do you hide a sector?" she said in bafflement.

Jaina shrugged. "You remove the information about it and the hyper route leading to it from as many computer files as possible and hope for the best. In some areas it worked. There were lost areas of space even in the colonies that were re-discovered as the locals considered it safe to come out again."  
Xander nodded. "So do you still think this is like an airplane Willow, Buffy?"

They looked at each other.

"Willow, is there any way the USA could hide so that a airplane couldn't find it?" Buffy asked. Willow shook her head. "Byblos, what do you know about that?" she quickly changed the subject.

Xander smiled at her. "Let's see," he said, pushing a button on the computer, double checking. "It's the home of the Byblos University of Engineering and the Byblos Drive Yards. Heavy duty transports and space weapons. They create high quality space mines and an asteroid hangar package. Just find a rock and you have a space home. Byblos repulsor-drives and Muurian Interstellar also has its home there. Nice." he said as he read the file. Muurian transports were nice ships.

"BlasTech, SoroSuub and Sienar Fleet system have corporate towers and industry on Byblos because they have a law which makes it easy to sell and build weapons. What on most worlds is considered illegal, they consider legal." It was also the place Lando asked them to meet him later.

Willow nodded. "What is the planet like?" she asked.

Xander read on. "Where we are going its urban. The planet is cold and the natives protect the planets wild life fiercely, so fiercely that all urban buildings are gigantic towers to maximize the living areas without hurting the wild life. 5000 levels and more are not unusual."

Jaina added, "It's mostly known for its high technology and military hardware, but dad told me it has wonderful skiing resorts and a 38 hour long day."

-KNM-

16 hours later

High traffic in normal space meant that it took time before they reached the planet.

Byblos was a neutral planet. It's worth as an industrial planet, a mighty planetary shield and a fleet of fighters kept the Republic away. They had a loose alliance with both the Imperial Remnant and the Republic. Playing both sides in the middle rarely ended well, though. If you learned from history that would be a lesson you would learn.

The Remnant was not an official part of the Galactic Federation, but the Imperial Knights and the Jedi had formed an alliance and it was only a question of time when the Imperial Remnant would join. They had already rendered military aid in the fleet vs. fleet combat between the Federation's smaller forces and the Republic's larger.

The cockpit and the gun turrets were filled with girls, as Buffy, Willow, Lexa, Dawn, Rona and Chloe all wanted to see. Riley was no less curious, but he had more control over his curiosity.

The Starport was a gigantic tower over 3000 levels tall, and star ships could land on each of the 3000 levels. It was build like a huge barrel, with the inside hollow, and smaller ships could fly inside to land in the docking bays at the inner walls. The docking bays at the outer walls were used by the big bulk transports.

"That's incredible." Willow said as the Enterprise lowered itself deeper and deeper in the hollow inside the tower and then slowly started moving to the docking bay at the inner wall.

"It looks like a gigantic defense wall or something. Only the keep in the center is missing," Dawn said from the gunnery turret.

-KNM-

Later, after a perfect landing

Jaina stretched where she sat. "We survived Xander's landing. Jay," she grinned at Xander's face as the other girls started to question him about that.  
Danni, Buffy, Willow, Dawn and Lexa vanished quickly to the University of Byblos to get some study material and also to check up if any students had vanished. Vampires of any kind seem to prey on the weak and the young. Xander's patience was tried as the law officers helped him seek information. A mass murderer loose on a starship traveling the galaxy was not a good thing and if that guy had visited Byblos, he would have taken time off for his hobby.  
Xander told them the murderer was discovered at Shesharile 5, but vanished as a crew member inside a ship to Coruscant. They had been hunting him ever since. They had lost the track on Coruscant, but four ships had lifted off with an extra crew man that could have been the Beast. Three of them were on their way to Byblos.

The information was not good. Just normal murders, the Beast had dropped off the radar.

At least he now knew where the last of the four ships was going. To the Dark Lady of Sith. The Beast wanted to join her.

This would be a mission he and Jaina with Rona and Chloe as backup had to take by themselves. Buffy wasn't at full strength yet and Willow was the same.  
Dawn and Lexa, forget about it. Danni? Same thing there.

The officer leaned over, at the look on the Jedi face. "So has your guy been here?" he asked. Xander shook his head. "No. He was on one of the other ships. The Beast managed to lose us at Coruscant. We lost too much time sneaking inside, finding the information, then sneaking out to have the time to make sure our information was correct."

If they had had the time to double check the information, the Enterprise's x0.75 hyperdrive could drive by any transports, especially bulk ships. Normal hyperdrives were at x2, meaning a 19 hour journey would take 14 hours for the Enterprise, while on a ship with an x2 hyperdrive the same journey would take 38 hours.

Had he ever said that he loved his hyperdrive?

Chapter 4

About the same time

"My lady, I have found Jedi Master Alexander. Their ship is in the docking yard at this moment. I am unable to enter the ship without being noticed." The man bowed in front of the image of Lady Lumiya. "What are your orders?"

The Lady looked at him as if he was a bug, "Reprogram one of the refueling droids. Have it install an unshielded lowickan firegem in their fuel and also send me the hyperspace exit vector and any information they give to star-port control." Most star-ports demanded that a ship gave them information of the next planet and star-port they would fly to.

The man nodded. "Your wish is my command."

Lumiya nodded as the hyperspace transmission was terminated. That would be the end of them.

-KNM-

Later at the university

Inside four gigantic towers, each with over 6000 levels, were housed the prestigious College of the City Towers of Byblos. Each year around two million students graduated and much more than twice that number enrolled. 6 000 000 million students enrolled as a whole. Using the greatest of teacher droids, teachers and around 100 000 professors as permanent members of staff, it was a big place.

Dawn gabbed. "What are we going to do here?" she asked.

Lexa nodded. "Yea it's like wow." The library and then the number of students walking around had the two feeling very much like fish out of water.

Dawn looked around. "Why are there so many stressed out students?" she asked in confusion. The older students looked much calmer and quite amused.  
"The university has a long standing policy of weeding out the students unwilling or unable to learn. With a combination of long complex lessons and difficult tests, only the best remain after a year of learning. Its half season right now and the stress is at its breaking point. Many students will leave, burned out,"

Jaina shrugged after explaining the method.

"Six million enter, but only about 2 million graduate. Only the elite, the best of the students make it, and we are here to check the university papers for students who have vanished and see if we can find some nice updates or new programs for R3 and R6," she was silent about Xander's plot of finding a professor in hyperspace theory to build him a super nav-computer.

Willow grabbed the computer, reading about the study and weeding tradition. It was brutal. They actively broke students whose skills in improving their learning were too low. First year was murder: study and learn and improve or you would break.

Suicides and mental breakdowns were not that unusual among students suffering during the weeding period. The teachers would make sure you broke or walked away. The second year was calmer, harder lessons, but at a calmer speed of learning, with more help from the teachers because now the incompetent students were gone.

She shivered. No wonder there were so many stressed out students around.

-KNM-

Later at one of the university many restaurants, the one on the roof, the Constellation restaurant, a place where guest and visitors ate more often than the students who often had to eat at the Biscuit Baron restaurants because they were cheaper.

As the others arrived from the tour at the university, Xander and Lando were already sitting there and eating something light while waiting for them.

Jaina sat beside Xander. "Is he here?" she asked. Xander shook his head. "No, the Beast is somewhere else. I believe he is going to Lumiya," he said simply.  
Jaina frowned. "Not necessary. That ship passes by the Cloak of Sith. He could be searching for whatever exists in that area," she said, talking about the leftovers off the once great Sith Empire which was crushed millenniums ago.

It was one of those areas where the hyper-routes had gone missing over the millennium to keep power seeking fools away. Most people would not know where the old empire once was or that it even had existed.

After that she said hello to Lando. Even after losing a bet like the one he lost with Xander, Lando was still a gentleman and once Xander told him about the trade, old Lando would be happy in deed.

Xander nodded. "Well, Jaina and I have been speaking about the CGT. Being Jedi, we can sense what it can detect and the Federation needs it more than we do. The going price of a CGT is around 16 million."

Lando jumped in at that. "12 million actually," he corrected.

Xander nodded. "12 million, I stand corrected. You get the CGT for the bargain price of 5 millions." He leaned forward. The cloak was a wonderful thing to own, but the cost of spare parts was astronomical. Just maintaining parts could in theory cost a cold million a year and even if it worked it was using jury rigged non standard spare parts glued together with high hope and engineering skills.

"And you buy our slightly used, but working cloaking shield for another 6 million. Also included in the deal are a new working sensor mask, the new black hole military class, and also a set of new military class sensor and communication jammers. I want them powerful, same class the Screamer Y-wing uses," Xander grinned.

Lando blinked as he leaned forward. It was good he had activated a sound bubble shield. "You have a cloak?" he asked with marvel in his voice.  
Xander nodded. "Anakin and I stole it form the Grand Admiral's escape shuttle," he smirked. "Half of those 6 millions are Anakin's credits. The rest is Jaina's and my money," he leaned back. "The sensor mask we might need to hide ourselves. The jammer's for when the fight starts to get ugly."

They would need it in the future, both the money and the equipment. The Enterprise and Jaina's XJ-Wing, the Starsaber, were both high maintenance ships and the galaxy was in war.

The sensor mask was the poor man's version of the cloak. By combining anti-detection systems and holographic transmitters it made the ship blend in and be invisible to the human eye and difficult for sensors to detect. The further away it was, the more difficult it was to detect a ship hiding under a sensor mask, but once it was discovered the sensor mask was just in the way as the enemy could focus their sensors and attack and the ship under a sensor mask could not have active shields.

A ship under a Cloak had active energy shields.

The Jammers on the other hand were a weapon against communications and sensors. By flooding the sensors and communications with static disruptive noise, you could disrupt communication between fighters and their mother ship.

Lando leaned back. "You could buy your own Correlian corvette for that price," he mused.

Buffy jumped in at that. "Oo a Corvette, do they come in red?" she said, not really knowing what a Corvette was in this universe, but any sports car should be red. End of story.

Chloe snorted. "It's not a sports car. It's a military ship I think."

Rona shook her head. "No, it's a multipurpose ship, also called a blockade runner," she had read up on them after Leia told her about the adventure she had on the Correlian corvette Tantive 4 and how it was destroyed over Tatooine.

Buffy frowned. "It should still come in red," she sulked.

Willow piped in, "I, I think a battle ship would be cool if it was yellow," she blushed.

Lando tried to ignore them. "Right, it's a deal, 5 million for the one and 6 million for the other. You do know that you're getting a bad deal here?" he asked. Combine the cloak and the CGT and any pilot could fly around cloaked.

Xander nodded. "But I get a fast and honest deal. We can load up the cargo on the Lady Luck later today."

Jaina sighed. "I'm going to miss that cloak."

Lando snorted. "So that's why you were so glad I wanted to meet you in this place." And as the kids had arrived so fast, he could go home to his wife that much faster.

They had agreed on a meeting at a later time to see who would be the winner, a place where the weapon laws were a joke and a place where he himself had connections in the weapon industry.

Jaina nodded. "We heard that you have connections here and were hoping that we could get the jammers and sensor mask by tomorrow night." They needed some down time on a planet.

Lando nodded. "To the deal then," he leaned back. "What is really going on in the Minos cluster? I heard rumors about monsters." He did not like rumors like that, especially during war.

They started to talk. It was not good things that Lando had found out.

Xander himself recognized what was happening to the war against the Republic. It was going cold. A gigantic galactic cold war was being born. Here and there skirmishes would break out on the borders between the Federation and the Republic. No big fleets of ships though, as both sides were licking their wounds and were looking over their shoulders as new players had appeared on the field.

The Galactic Alliance was a second new big player which distanced itself from both Republic and Federation planets. The Republic was still the biggest player and had a bigger fleet of war ships than the Federation did, but so far they had lost most of the fleet VS fleet fights against the Federation.

The Republic had declared the Galactic Alliance enemies soon after they broke free from the Republic. The Federation asked them to join them or at least have a trade alliance with them.

So far GA seemed to be paranoid against both sides.

There were hundreds of miniature empires, even federations and trade alliances and other star-nations out there now and they all feared the Republic and each other.

A galactic wide cold war.

Xander shivered, the future path was difficult. One mistake and the cold war could break out into complete war or turn into generations of mistrust and espionage.

-KNM-

Four days later

Xander watched the new toys he had installed. He had to hire a repair yard to install the external parts of the sensor mask, but after two days of work, he was done.

The girls had been having fun skiing, expect Dawn as she did not like the cold according to Jaina. She spent most of the time indoors enjoying herself, but the others, Willow, Buffy, Rona and Chloe, had fun in the cold. Shivering and going out into the snow willingly? Not this Jedi.

In fact, from what Jaina reported, all of the Force guardians seemed to be able to use the Force to warm themselves up. She and Chloe had tested that theory. Hours of testing later, Chloe was going around dressed up in a bikini even as it was freezing could outside with temperatures below -20 Celsius. No damage to her, the Force itself was keeping her body warm. A method Jaina managed to learn, using her Jedi skills of absorbing and dissipating energy.

"Now we're ready girl. I know you miss the shield, but it was difficult to maintain and if it had broken down, we would have been fucked." Xander said, petting his ship. Naturally no answer came from the ship, but he had a feeling she liked it. Either that or he was going crazy.

Lifting up something strange he frowned, a tracker. Someone had put a tracker on his ship hull.

He returned it to the place where he found it. Once they were up in space, they would dump it. Perfect, the starships fuel cans were coming. "Just put them there. My cargo droid knows where to put them," he said to the cargo personal.

He frowned, one of the cargo workers looked afraid. He smirked, so that's the guy who put a tracker on them. He wondered if the man worked for a pirate or something.

As the Jedi inspected the fuel barrels Tonner sweated. If the firegem he hid inside the barrels was discovered, they would find out about him. So far the Lowickan firegem was safe, but the moment the ship would enter hyperspace the shift between normal space and hyper-space would cause an unshielded Lowickan firegem to explode into pure energy.

He hoped the barrels with starship fuel would not be considered a shielded area. No, the Lady would not make that kind of foolish mistake.

As Tonner sweated Xander was having fun. The guy was so nervous. He could feel the guy was afraid that Xander would discover something. Something he was to blame for, the tracker.

Ignoring the guy right now he inspected the energy readings from the fuel. High energy, perfect.

"T-1000, come and load them in." he said, grinning as his cargo droid started to lead the barrels in. It was a simple cargo lifting droid, but it looked SO much like a 2 meter tall human skeleton that he named it T-1000. The cargo droid, only having the simplest brain, was unable to understand a joke even if you explained it to him. Obediently it lifted the fuel barrels inside the ship. It was good at lifting and carrying things.

"Perfect. I feel we are on the right track here. Right guys." he said friendly to the cargo personal which nodded. Tonner twitched in terror. Did the Jedi know?  
Amused, Xander let the idiot go. How could that idiot think he could trick him? Jedi Master Xander Harris Solo would not let any fool trick him. He padded himself on the back. The moment they were in space the tracker would be dropped, then one simple safe jump in to space would take care of it.

-KNM-

Later, as they flew away, a lone tracking device floated away in space.

"We are going by Shesharile to drop of Lexa and Dawn. Buffy and Willow, both of you need training before you can use your skills and powers in real combat and you still need to get used to this universe," Xander said.

"Then Jaina, Rona and Chloe together with Riley and me will go after the Beast. If we are correct, he entered a dark and awful place and I'm not talking about a garbage recycling tank either."

Chloe shivered, remembering her close encounter with garbage recycling plants. Something darker and more evil than that could not exist.  
Willow sighed. "I may need to find out what my powers are," she said hanging her head. She wanted to be useful.

Xander nodded. "Yeah, let us just enter hyperspace," he said as he pulled the hyperspace activation level and the ship vanished into hyperspace. 

Chapter 5

Inside the hangar of the Enterprise

Deep inside a fuel barrel the Lowickan firegem glittered as if electricity was dancing inside of it. Then it slowed down, the shielded radioactive protection of the barrel stopping it from exploding.

Jaina stood up as they entered hyperspace. "I better take the chance to refuel my Starsaber." She walked away into the hangar.  
Grabbing the fuel pump she cranked up the barrel and pushed down the pump system. It sealed itself quickly. Inside the barrel the firegem started to glow as the vibrations from Hyperspace turned it more and more unstable.

"Jaina, can you come and give us a hand?" Rona yelled from down the hall. "Something's wrong with the washing machine."

Jaina rolled her eyes. "Ask Xander!" she yelled back as she started to refuel her XJ-Wing.

Seconds later the voice of a frustrated Rona echoed through the ship again."But it's the washing machine. Last time Xander fixed it, it exploded," she whined.

Jaina snorted at the memory. "That was not his fault or so he claims." Xander said he had had no spare parts for the machine, so he improvised and he'd been so sure that he'd gotten it right that instead of testing things in first, he just activated the machine and boom.

Rona moaned: "You really should get a new washing machine. How old is that thing anyway?"

Jaina frowned. "I'm not sure, around 120 years or so. It's older than the ship," she said, musing. "It does have some good features." Like that half of the machine could be and was used to hide weapons. Most sensors read it as a solid piece of machine and metal.

Rona wasn't convinced. "Like what?" she asked.

Jaina just smirked. It was pure luck that they had found that washer and once dad had seen it, he'd explained right away what it was they had. A real treasure, he had one himself. Mom hated it with a passion. He'd to stop her from shooting it many times. Jaina giggled at the idea of her mother Leia Organa Solo shooting a poor defenseless washing machine.

As they walked out of the hangar, the increasing glow of the firegem was hidden by the walls of the barrel.

-KNM-

Later

Jaina stood up and wiped her hands. "And that's that." She walked to a safe distance from the washer. "Right, lets activate it," she said as she pushed the on button.

BOOM! The whole ship rocked in space as Jaina and Rona were thrown around like puppets from the strength of the exploding washing machine.  
The lights died, then the emergency lights activated.

"You see, I warned you, it's evil," Rona grumbled from the corner she had landed in.

Jaina shook her head. "Don't be stupid, it wasn't the washer that exploded. Look, it's perfectly fine." She looked around; the emergency hyperspace cut of lamps were blinking.

A small burning trail of smoke from the washer quickly made her eat her words. The old champion had finally surrendered to age.

Jaina frowned. "I think the washer died." She shrugged as she hurried out. She could see that the hangar was sealed off. Something had exploded inside.  
"My Starsaber," she gasped in fear.

Then the ship rocked again, like a big fist had smashed it on the side and then it rocked once more.

Jaina turned and rushed to the cockpit. That was laser fire. Someone was shooting at them.

Inside the cockpit she could see a panicking Dawn sitting in the pilot seat. "I… I.. I didn't do anything or touch anything, I promise." she said, on the verge of tears.

Jaina ignored her as she jumped into the co-pilot seat. "Get out of here Dawn, Xander is coming," she said.

A nude and angry as hell Xander rushed inside. You take ONE bubble bath and your ship explodes. Just ONE bubble bath in peace, was that too much to ask? His only cover was the pink bubbles still hanging on his body, somehow almost hiding the naughty bits. (The Force is a mighty ally. Hide you it can.)

Dawn blinked. "You use bubble bath?" she asked in surprise. "Pink bubbles?"

Xander froze and turned to her slowly, leveling his gaze on her. "And?" he asked. It was relaxing, incredibly relaxing and if you trained as hard as he did, then you deserved a relaxing bubble bath, even if it was pink. "The not pink bubbles hurt my gills."

Dawn shrugged. "Nothing, it's just the pink foam. A bit girly you know."

Jaina shot a glance at her. "Hey listen to me girl. My man is all man." Ok, so the pink did look a bit girly, but it was so relaxing.

Dawn nodded. "I can see that. But pink bubble bath?" she said, starring at Xander's nude body.

He quickly hid his male pride. "Get me a pair of pants. They're in the bath room. NOW Dawn," he said, jumping in to the pilot seat. "Now I regret using leather."

Dawn hurried out, giggling the whole way.

Outside Lexa blinked. "Was that my brother rushing by dressed in his birthday suit?" she asked. Seeing Dawn grin as she rushed by, Lexa could only say one thing. "Damn and he's my brother." She frowned though. Why did Xander look pink?

-KNM-

Outside there was a fleet of ships, not good.

Republic war ships and they had just identified them.

"Starship Enterprise, power down and surrender or you will be fired on," came the cursory warning before the ships opened fire.

A-9 Interceptors and Howlrunners flew by, doing strafing runs with the XJ-Wings following close behind.

"Can you get the shield active?" Xander asked. Jaina replied, "Yes, but I'll have to go back and repair it first. Show them who the king in space is," she said as she rushed by.

Rona joined them. "Wow. If you're going to pilot the ship like that through all combat, I'll be a happy girl."

Xander rolled his eyes. "Danni, get in the co-pilot chair, now."

Then he snapped orders at Rona. "Get in the top turret and see that Chloe goes down," he said.

Buffy's head popped in the door. "Why does Chloe get to go down?" she asked. "Holy, you always fly nude?" she then said with a big silly grin. "What,

Xander is nude?" Willow said as she pushed her head in between Buffy and Rona.

Danni ran inside and took one look around. "Is this a combat or are you having an orgy?" It seemed like a perfectly normal question to her. She was hoping for the orgy.

Dawn yelled, "I got you pants," as she rushed in with his uniform. Blushing and grinning.

Buffy looked back and forth between them "What is Dawn doing with your pants?"

Willow nodded. "Yes, she's only fifteen Xander."

Xander was trying very hard not to lose his temperament. "It's a battle, they're attacking us. I was taking a bath, had NO time to get dressed because I had to save our behinds. Now let me fight and dress myself. All personal to battle stations NOW!" he ordered them.

Buffy grabbed Dawn. "You better have a good explanation or Xander is dead."

Then the ship rocked again from the laser bolts. Buffy frowned. "Fly more careful Xander" she yelled.

Willow frowned. "What's going on?" Dawn shrugged. "It's a battle."

Looking up and down the gun wells into the gun turrets, Willow got her answer. Chloe and Rona were spinning around and shooting the quad laser cannons fast. "It's a battle Buffy. We are under attack," she said in a fearful voice.

Inside the cockpit Xander pushed the engine to max as he rolled the ship to avoid the rain of fire. Pushing a button he activated the twin auto blaster. "Take the blasters," he said as he focused on flying the ship and putting on his pants. The leather on the seat was sticking to his skin.

Focusing on the Force he stretched out with it and the others joined. First Jaina and then Danni, stretching out he found Rona and Chloe and they joined also.

Suddenly

Xander, Danni, Jaina, Chloe and Rona were all flying the ship.

Suddenly  
Jaina, Xander, Danni, Chloe and Rona were repairing the energy shield side by side with R3 and R6.

Suddenly  
Rona, Chloe, Xander, Jaina and Danni were shooting inside both of the gun turrets.

They were joined in the Force and the Enterprise started to move in perfect harmony. All of them knew each other skills and worked together in perfect harmony.

The joined rolled the ship as the squadron of XJ-wings attacked them with no hesitation. He aimed and pulled the trigger, sending a concussion missile at one of the X-Wings.

On the top turret the joined pulled her trigger, switching from single cannon fire to full linked fire. The four cannons joined and created a powerful fireball that penetrated the shield on the nearby Nebulous-B. The explosion destroyed half a meter of armored hull and one gun-turret. A rain of missiles came down on the Nebulous-B from the joined in the cockpit.

The missiles slashed down and hit their target. The powerful engine was the Nebulous-B escort cruiser's strength as it gave it the speed it needed, but it also was its weakness, and four missiles later a large part of the ship was nothing, but molted slag.

The joined kept using the auto-fire mode, letting the four cannons in her quad turret fire one after the other, like a Gatling gun. The rain of fire slashed between the attacking A-9's, causing one to burst out in fire and the second to break in half.

The joined pushed the power button, the shield was fixed and Jaina took a second to look at what was left of her beloved X-Wing before running to the cockpit.

The joined stood up, letting the joined sitting down take her rightful place by the sensor and shield operations.

The enemies attacked again and like one, the Enterprise returned the attack more fiercely than ever before.

Xander swore, as the joining broke up. "That was harder than I thought it would be," he said.

Jaina nodded. "We wasted a squadron of A-9 and I see half a squadron worth of XJ-Wings hunting us."

Danni smiled. "Yay us and now they're angry and sending out more ships," she said, even managing to sound happy.

Xander grunted. "Does the hyperdrive work?" he asked worriedly.

Jaina shook her head. "No. the main power line between both the main hyperdrive and the backup is gone. We need repairs before we can use it," she said. "And my Starsaber is dead. It exploded."

Xander blinked at that. "Oh." He nodded, right focus. "Danni, find us somewhere to hide."

Danni nodded, "Inputting the coordinates now."

Xander nodded and peered at the screen. "Sweet. Just two hours nonstop combat then, if we're still alive, we can shake them off in orbit and try to go planet side and hide." He looked at Danni. "Are you sure there are no asteroids fields, nebulas or moon sized space bases around to hide in?"

Danni shook her head. "No, I'm sorry. That's the best I could find," she said.

Xander sighed. "It's fine. Two hours, nothing I can't do," he said, dodging, twitching and trying constantly to out think the enemy. The assholes were getting smarter.

He frowned. What was he forgetting? "The jammer, activate the jammer aimed at the fighters, on my mark." He turned to Jaina. "Be ready with the auto-blaster. Danni, sensor readings, I want detailed targeting data." He pushed the intercom. "Rona, Chloe, on my mark I'm going to start jamming the enemy fighters and do a full reverse. Start shooting and do not miss."

Chloe started. "We're going to attack them?" she asked in shock. That was the single most stupid idea ever.

Xander typed in some numbers with his left hand and the countdown started.

5

4

3

2

1

Jamming

All the enemy fighters could hear was a screeching sound as all communication and targeting information was gone as their sensors were jammed.  
Then the Enterprise moved into the offensive.

Xander pulled a full reverse and attacked.

The four squadrons (2 squadrons off XJ-Wings, one squadron off A-9 Vigilant Interceptors and one squadron of Howlrunners) were taken totally by surprise as the ship attacked with a rain of coordinated fire and, without orders, half deafened by the jammers and with no targeting data, the squadrons were scattered to avoid collisions or to escape death.

As the big dreadnaught started to fire its guns, Xander did a second reverse and continued on the course.

Danni kept an eye on the screens. "The big one is using our jammers to improve his fire control," she said.

Xander nodded as he switched them off. "That's the down side. Less powerful ships we can turn blind and stupid. The bigger ships just get a better picture of us, unless we focus our jammers directly on them."

Danni frowned. "I know. With so many enemy ships, we don't have the option of focusing on just one." She growled, irritated, as a second capital ship joined the hunt, a small Kuat Driveyard Dagger corvette. It was 200 meters long and looked like a baby star-destroyer.

Jaina grinned. "Remember our first combat?" she asked.

Xander nodded, those were the times. "Yeah, we destroyed one like that in record time."

But this one moved faster and seemed to have bigger weapons and was manned by trained troopers.

They ran away, not attacking.

Danni peered at the Dagger corvette. "It looks cute. Like a new born baby Star Destroyer," she giggled.  
Xander ignored them as he was trying to keep them all alive. "Anything I can use Danni, give it to me."

Danni nodded, looking at the sensors with a frown, trying to see anything. Then she smiled as she leaned over. "I believe in you Xander," she said as she kissed his neck. "Later, once we're safe, we're going to have lots of fun, just the three of us" she said, sitting back at the sensor chair.

Xander blinked, pushing the ship in a rolling dive, then up again, trying to shake of the pair of XJ-Wings on his rear. "Thanks Danni, whatever it was, it worked." He reversed the ship, using the fact that he had a class 6 hull and was much bigger than the fighters to his advantage.

"Yehaaa, die mother fucker!" he screamed out in the radio and rammed five A-9 Interceptors. The tiny fragile ships with the big deadly guns didn't have a chance.

Jaina blinked. "Um, Xander…" But she could do nothing as Xander returned on course. The two XJ-Wings moved away to attack from a distance. No longer could they hide from his guns by using his own hull as protection.

Rona growled in the gun turret. "Take that you ugly bitch!" She got one of them.

Chloe called: "More XJ-Wings are coming in!" Those bastards were fast.

Danni frowned. "I found something we could hide behind." she said a bit nervously.

Xander glanced at her. "Talk to me, what is it?"

Danni continued, still sounding a little unnerved: "A gas giant. Lots of storms, deadly atmosphere and only a fool would enter it just to hide."

Xander frowned. "Why didn't you mention it before?" He blinked. "Right, me ramming the A-9 makes me either a fool or a desperate fool?"

The girls nodded.

Xander shrugged. "The A-9 has no shields and a hull rating of class 2. I have full shields and hull class 6." He looked at them. "I'm flying a freaking turtle."  
And they battled on.

Escape maneuver after escape maneuver, attacks to drive the fighters away so that they could escape again. Then finally the gas giant loomed in front of them.

They careened at the gas giant at full speed. It was stormy and deadly weather down there, with thunder and lightning that could fry a starship.  
It was perfect. He dove in. "Danni, take the controls. Jaina, let's fix her up fast, there's no way we can survive down here for long."

She nodded as the ship rocked back and forth from storms that could rip asunder an armored truck like it was made of paper.

The engine room was a mess. Xander felt lucky he had a Mon-calamari shield system. While the Mon-calamari was not that good at weapon systems, their energy shields ruled. Each shield had two backup shield systems, forcing the enemy to shoot it asunder 3 times before it was dead and stayed dead.  
Right now he was on the last backup system. "Right, fix the shields. I'm going to see if there's anything I can do for the hyperdrive."

-KNM-

Later

There was nothing he could do. The main power line between the hyperdrive and power core was blown to bits and the hyperdrive itself needed repairs before he could use it again. He would have to create a new power line and that would take days.

Jaina yelled at him, "Xander come here!"

"What?" he asked, turning around the corner. "Sith spit!" he swore. The hangar doors were welded together by the explosion, but a part of the XJ-Wing had, like a missile, ripped open the floor and damaged the atmospheric maneuvering and repulsor systems.

Jaina nodded. "We have to do something." They frowned. The ship rocked. "I bet it's pretty heavy to maneuver right now."

Xander nodded. "Take over. Use the ion drive. I know it will ionize the atmosphere and create even more thunder and lightning storms." He shrugged. "But unless you do it, I don't think I can fix this." Or survive, both of them were thinking.

She nodded. Unless they repaired the repulsor and the atmospheric maneuver system, flying out off the gas giant would be very difficult.

As she rushed out Xander frowned. Now, what could be used to fix this? He looked at the broken parts of the XJ-Wing. Lots of parts and he'd have to cannibalize it for spares.

"Xander, what is going on?" Buffy asked from the hangar doors.

Xander ignored her as he continued to remove components, fighting against time.

"Xander, I asked you what is going on?" she yelled.

Xander looked up. "Trying to repair the ship or ship goes BOOM. You are not helping." He kept fixing. "Damn it. Buffy, come here NOW." he ordered her.

Buffy jumped. "What?" The sound of desperation in his voice made her obey.

"I have too big hands. I need your help now." He ordered her and pulled down in the repulsor engine. "Put your hand inside there. You'll find a ring in the middle and a knob. Putt your hand on the knob and draw it out a tiny bit."

Buffy nodded. "It's out a finger length." Xander smiled, good. "Now put this oily metal ring around the knob and push it back inside again. Right. Do not touch the cable connected to the oily metal ring."

Buffy was just about to ask why when: "Ouch it bit me!" she screamed out as she got a nasty electric shock.

Xander nodded. "Yea and our life hangs on that the nasty thing is connected and not broken."

Buffy grumbled an "Ouch" struggled further "Ouch" to put it in place. "Ouch" It was not easy. "Ouch." She could not see, just stick in "Ouch" her hand and feel around "Ouch." And the cable kept on shocking her.

She glared angry at the engine as she said, "It's done." She removed her hands. "Will it work?" she asked.

Xander shrugged and pushed a button. A humming sound came from the engine. "It works."

Buffy grinned. "I so rule!" That was fun in a painful kind of way.

Xander grinned back. "Yes. I'm going to make an engineer out of you yet."

Buffy kept grinning. "What next?" she said, eager to help. This was fun in a dirty some way, too.

Xander kept moving. "The atmospheric thrusters, I need them repaired like fifteen minutes ago. Wait here." He got the spare parts from the store and the big spares he had taken from the XJ-Wing.

"Now let's start," he said as the two curled up together in the dirty engine. "Take of those lipstick lookalikes. Screw them off counter clock wise," he instructed. Buffy nodded quickly as she took one off and Xander put in another.

This was so different then the Xander she once knew. He was focused, intelligent and so much more skilled.

After coming here, they had had almost no time to adapt, as Xander, Rona and Chloe had started hunting the vampires. Tony, Jessica and Lexa had helped them learn Basic, combining some medical druggy thingy and droids to input the knowledge at a record speed, if she only could have learned French that way. If only. In less than a month they had learned the absolute minimum what they needed and the sucker called Beast was running to the City planet Coru something. Xander and his wife Jaina, Xander was married and they had a second wife. That was so ALIEN. A red skinned alien wife named Danni.  
Buffy focused as she helped to repair the ship, memories off Xander and Jaina asking them to join with them on the journey to give Buffy and Willow a chance to get to know the new improved Xander Harris Solo, Jedi Master, flashing in her mind. Her first question was, if Jedi was some kind of cheese. Big mistake, that.

Even know she wasn't sure what a Jedi really was. It sounded like a mix between a fighter, a priest, a monk and a knight. She and Willow had not been that impressed by the Cheddar monk's order at first. If Xander could have become a master in such a short time, it couldn't be that big a deal. They were much more impressed by the power the students were using and by Rona and Chloe.

Then they finally got it, when Xander and Jaina had demonstrated for a stupid student just what a Jedi Master could do, using the power of the Force. Xander was a Jedi Master and Jaina and he were the main teachers and they were powerful and skilled in the use of light-sticks.

Xander screwed back a card like object onto the engine and slapped on the protective metal hull. The atmospheres maneuver thrusters activated, as if by them self.

Another drumming sound came from the atmosphere maneuver thrusters. It did not sound good.

Buffy frowned. "Its sick, right?" she asked.

Xander nodded. "Sick as a dog, we have to replace that part. But for now all we can do is force the sick wounded old thruster to work and hope it holds together." He looked at Buffy. "What we did is like pumping a crippled full of drugs, then forcing him to run a marathon on stilts. The thrusters can crash at anytime. We're torturing the engine right now."

Buffy nodded. "But we did good work, right?" she asked. She was covered in oil from top to bottom, but she no longer felt useless. This was a completely different universe and she could adapt. Fixing things was fun and perhaps she could learn that.

Xander nodded. "We did the impossible Buffy. Now go and change, we'll return to space soon and then the fight will start again," he said. "Buffy, believe it or not, but you have talent in fixing things."

Buffy nodded.

Later with Willow, Dawn and Lexa curled up in the love seat of horror. (A sofa two could sit on with no problem and 3 could snuggle up together made from the jaws of a monster, a HUGE monster)

"What's going on?" they asked as Buffy walked in, changed from her oiled down clothing to something fresh.

Buffy thought about it, "Um. Engine was hurt, so we fixed it. We're returning to the fight soon."

Willow nodded. "What are we fighting?" she asked. Buffy shrugged. "I forgot to ask that."

Willow hung her head. She felt so useless. Untrained, uneducated and unskilled, too many uns in her life right now. She just wasn't used to being the one who didn't understand.

Suddenly the ship went from rocking and trembling around from the storm outside to a more directional movement. The Enterprise's ion engine was pulling more power, they were moving up again.

In the cockpit Xander was chewing gum as he piloted the ship. Above them the whole fleet of ships had gathered around, lying in wait.

"Danni, prepare an emergency call for help. Jaina and Danni, you both look really sexy right now. Rona, Chloe, be ready to rumble."

Rona glanced at Xander. "What, don't I look sexy?" she asked.

Xander shrugged. "Ask your boyfriend," he said simply and the battle was joined.

XJ-Wings, Howlrunners and A-9 attacked them, squadron after squadron.

He pushed straight at the main ship, a 600 meter long Interdictor cruiser, at the full speed of 440 Mglt. At the last second he switched power to the maneuvering thrusters and turned around, pulling 300 MGLT he skimmed the surface of the Interdictor. He was in the zone.

All of the great pilots, Han Solo, Lando, Wedge Antilles and Luke Skywalker, had talked about THE ZONE.

Time was standing still for him. Each move was sugar sweet and perfect as he zigged and zagged between the cannon turrets. Aiming the missiles at the bridge of the ship, he pulled straight up, sending a rain of four missiles point blank into the bridge of the Interdictor cruiser.

The small defenders, close range fighters, had no chance of stopping him as he outmaneuvered them. A quick break to the left and he dived down under the Interdictor, using its massive hull as a shield from the Dagger who was attacking him. As the Interdictor started to spin out of control, he came up again.  
The fighters were attacking him; the auto-blaster was blazing out fire as fast as Jaina could blink. She got another one. Most of the XJ-Wings were not hurt by the auto-blaster, but they were tagged which made it easier for the Enterprise's target computers to get a fire lock on them.

Xander turned up and flew right by a four hundred meter ship, ignoring the rain of fire they send towards him. At full acceleration, he was past them before they could blink. The fighters followed.

The XJ-Wings and Howlrunners were at his speed, the A-9 was faster. They were fragile, but had big fangs.

The A-9 came like waves around him while shooting their guns, eating away at his hull and shields. There was little he could do about it unless he tried to outmaneuver their attacks, but that would give the XJ-Wings the chance to get ahead.  
Now he had no choice. The XJ-Wings fired their proton torpedoes at him.  
"Aim the jammers at the missiles. In two." he said.

Jaina nodded. "Right." she said, then activated the jammer and waited.

At the last second Xander pulled a ship breaking turn, a full 90 degrees straight up, just as Jaina aimed the jammers at the torpedoes.  
The A-9's were scrambling for protection or they would have slammed into his hull like rain on a roof. They succeeded, but they were left spread out in disorder.

The Squadron leader called to his fighters, "Let's pull together now," he ordered them to join up again.

The torpedoes lost their target lock and were unable to find the target again. They started to seek prey blindly.

"Turn the jammers off," Xander said and suddenly the missiles could see again.

One by one they found a fitting target lock. ION engines lock on.

Danni giggled. "Brilliant. Out of 24 torpedoes only two 2 are locking on us now."

Jaina started. "What? Don't tell me…" she said, giggling. The torpedoes, confused after being jammed, had found alternate ships to lock on to and the A-9's started to explode around them in space.

Xander pulled up his radio. "Right X-Wings, listen and listen well. There are two ways we can do this, the hard way or the smart way. The smart way would be for you to run," he said, closing communication.

Jaina nodded, time for her to test her skills. She switched places with Danni and entered Jedi Battle meditation, improving the skills of the Enterprise crew and creating an almost joining level of cooperation, while seeding fear and confusion in the hearts of the enemy. It was a skill her mother was much better at, yet it was a skill she was more skilled in then Xander was. Like her dad Han Solo once said. –When the going gets tuff, you Jedi go all dreamy.-

Rona's rain of fire made the two missiles explode. That was pure luck, but it sure looked impressive. "Chloe, where are we going?" she asked.

Chloe shook her head. "I think he's attacking the fleet again."

Rona started to slam her head in the wall. "Why? Why not run?" She pulled herself together. "Let's fire and forget then."

They attacked.

Now the X-Wing pilots and the Howlrunners were nervous as the heavy freighter attacked. Moving like a star fighter and armed like a gunboat, it was not an easy target by anyone's estimate.

Danni's fingers flew over the consoles. "Jammers on," she said.

Xander took full advantage of the sensor blinded fighter pilots. Like a bull in a china shop he threw his weight around, while Rona and Chloe turned another two X-Wings into burning balls of fire. Chloe made a Howlrunner explode and nicked one at the side, making the pilot lose control and twist straight into his wing man, causing both fighters to burn.

The XJ-Wing pilots weren't bad, they turned and attacked. Xander's constantly changing course and heavy attacks were driving them apart though.

The Howlrunners weren't beginners at this either.

Then one of the pilots managed to get the others' attention. They all turned tail and started to regroup into an attack formation. Then, just as they were returning, Xander turned tail and ran at full speed.

Fifteen minutes later the XJ-Wings and Howlrunners following him were falling further and further behind.

Then the XJ-Wings and the Howlrunners weren't following them anymore. They had orders to wait for reinforcement.

The planet was finally in front of them. Activating the sensor mask he dove down and vanished in to the soup of the atmosphere.

It wasn't a good landing as the repulsor worked only at 5 % and they needed at least 25 % for a smooth touchdown. Then the atmosphere thrusters suddenly died on them. With the ion engine blasting at full power, they managed to turn a crash into something they would survive.

Then something in the Ion engine died and the ion engine refused to work.

Half buried in the soft ground, they were surrounded by jungle and sea. To look on the bright side, it was a good hiding spot.

Danni and Jaina rushed out, followed by Rona, to put up the camouflage.

By now Xander was trembling from the aftershock. He did it, no, they did it.

He sat down in the sofa, calming himself, as Danni and Jaina snuggled up next to him. "Xander, what happened?" Willow asked.

That was a good question. Something had exploded. Not the X-Wing, but something, and then they had the luck to enter normal space near a Republic patrol fleet.

"No idea what happened Willow. No idea. Sabotage and emergency hyperspace cut off, we entered normal space in the middle of an enemy fleet," he said.

Rona groaned. "That was one hell of a combat situation," she said. Her hands were still trembling, pulling the trigger that many times was hard work.

That was almost an hour of combat and chase.

"Now we rest. Tomorrow we start fixing her up." Xander said, before taking one girl under each arm, carrying both Danni and Jaina into the bedroom for pre-resting activities.


	2. Chapter 6 and 7

Chapter 6

The next morning, after the crash or uncontrolled landing, if you asked Xander

Damage control showed the Enterprise was messed up. The ion engines would need a major refit and repair and so would the hyperdrive. The repulsor, the first to crash and burn, was easy to repair. It would just take time to construct a replacement for the damaged part. The ion engine was down for now though. Xander needed replacement parts. The hyperdrive he could fix up, at least the back up one. The main hyperdrive needed parts he did not have. The hull was burned by the fire, but it had survived the rough entry.

Somehow it all should have been much worse than it was.

"Buffy? You and Rona use the speeder bikes and scout out the area. Buffy, Rona knows what to do against sensors. You do not, so she's in command."  
He turned to Jaina. "What do you think?" he asked.

Jaina looked down at the ship. "We have to move her," she said.

Xander nodded, looking at the ship.

"It's going to be difficult getting her up from that crater," Willow said.

"Size matters not. The only difference is in your mind," Xander said as he pulled the Force to him.

Jaina nodded to herself. Pulling that much energy was difficult, if his trust in himself failed, it wouldn't work. She felt Xander nudging at her. She would help. She closed her eyes.

As one the two young Jedi Masters raised their hands.

The earth started to pull away from the ship. As the Enterprise tipped over, it stopped and floated up in the air, higher and higher until the landing gear was clear of the crater. Inside the cockpit R3 activated the landing gear. He found it spooky when they used the Force to do something that should have been impossible.

As the landing gear extended, the ship slowly landed.

Both Willow and Buffy looked at Jaina and Xander as both of them opened their eyes.

Danni was shocked. "Impossible," she breathed in amazement.

"And that Danni is the reason why you can't do it. The only difference from a tiny rock and that ship is in your mind. As soon as you understand that, you can do that too," Xander said with conviction.

Dawn looked at the pair with shining eyes. "Wow, that was so incredible, that was a 'There is no spoon' moment."

Sure, they were doing more than just believing in themselves. You had to be able to pull enough power from the Force itself without losing control to move something as big as the Enterprise, but the most important part was to trust and believe in your ability. That was something Luke always said.

Willow's eyes were huge. "That's incredible," she said. It was doing things like that which really proved how much more powerful Xander had become. She was worried though. Power corrupted and would Xander be able to handle that much power that fast? He was rather irresponsible after all.

Jaina sensed Willow's thoughts and snorted. "Did you think that Xander became a Jedi Master because the other Jedi Masters thought it would be funny? No, he is powerful and skilled and he's the reason I'm a Jedi Master now, while my brother is still a Jedi Knight," she smiled.

Xander blushed. "Um, I train real hard and the dead guys help me, couldn't have done it without the dead guys."

Rona shivered. "Let's get out of here Buffy. I have a bad feeling about this place."

-KNM-

A day later, hidden inside a sea cave

Xander was sure the ebb and flow of the water would help keep them hidden. During the high tide almost half of the cave opening was hidden and the place they parked the Enterprise was flooded with water.

Not that Xander cared. The Enterprise had been modified for emergency water landings and the water was nice for him to explore. He shrugged to himself. Besides, the water where they had parked the ship was only one perhaps two meters deep at maximum. The landing gear gave the ship 3 meters of clearance between ground and ship.

They felt it seconds before they could hear it. Howlrunners were racing in the atmosphere. They were searching after them. Then they found out something bad from the communication chatter they were listening in on. The planet had been invaded and an army of the Republic had put up a fortress and massive ground to space ion cannons were already being build. The planetary shields were being tested. They could see a sudden shimmer in the air as it was turned off and on.

So that's what the fleet was doing here. They were building a military base of operations and now the Republic had a shipload of enemies hiding nearby. Not a good thing and if their call for help had been heard, anybody coming in to help could be flying right into an ambush.

"That's not good news," Buffy said. She turned to Xander. "How bad would we be treated if we got captured?" she asked.

Jaina gave the question some thought, "First torture and mind probes and then life on a jail world if you're unlucky."

Xander nodded. "Think Australia, but no kangaroos," he said to Willow who paled. "No, I don't like beer that much," she said.

"Beer bad," Buffy intoned, remembering that night. It had taken weeks before she could look Giles in the face again without feeling shame.

Jaina sighed. "We have to take out the base," she said.

Xander nodded sadly from beside her. "Or any help on its way will be attacked as soon as they get here."

The others suddenly realized what would happen, if the situation remained the way it was.

-KNM-

Two days later

The Republic base was not hard to find. It was built on the base of an old Empire prefabricated garrison base. They even had an armored ten meter high death fence. Behind the top of the fence, running parallel to it, was a catwalk were troopers patrolled. Guard towers were spaced around 150 meters from each other. Big electro binoculars, flood light sensor systems and weapon systems, from a twin light turbolaser, as a defense against star fighters, to heavy repeaters like an E-web or F-web, littered the place.

At first look the garrison gave the impression of being a cheap copy of the old Imperial base, but they could see there were differences. There was a larger hangar on the ground level onto one side, the size of which told them the real purpose of the base would be to house long range attack star fighters. This would be a permanent strong hold.

The garrison itself had heavier weapons than an Imperial base would have had. Three towers with heavy twin turbo lasers, which seemed to be extra big. Perhaps ground to orbit cannons, designed to hurt capital ships. Six towers with heavy quad laser cannons mounted on turrets and also big tractor beam projectors on each of the six laser cannon towers.

The length and size of the death fence was confusing, although they could see more buildings being built inside the fence, but outside of the garrison itself.  
Two miles from the garrison they found a planetary ION cannon that looked like a football. It was big, almost as high as the garrison itself. Although able to shoot far out from the planet and hit a target a long distance from the planet, as it was an ion-cannon, it would not destroy the target, just render it immobile. They were still digging for the placement of the power core of the ion cannon. The pure jamming frequencies of EMP radiation an ion cannon gave away made it necessary to hide sensitive equipment like gunners, power core and command station at least 1 km away from the bubble that was the cannon itself. Often they built a bunker right under the cannon, a safe place to be and there on the other side of the garrison was the shield generator. They had it working.

"Jaina, what is that?" Xander asked. She looked confused then shook her head. "No idea."

Just outside the death fence, where the mine field should be and was, they could see 2-3 floating repulsor mines. A death probe was flying around. Inside that area were tiny metal sticks pointing out from the ground.

Xander peered at it through his binoculars. "Looks like some kind of energy field projector," he said, confused.

Danni looked in her electro binoculars. "It's a slicer field projector," she nodded. It was much more effective against soft targets, like humans or lightly armed repulsors. It would be effective even against Jedi.

Xander started, "Slicer?" and Jaina finished "Field?" Both were confused.

Danni nodded. "We used them on Zeltron at the high security jail. It's like a death field. Anything entering the area will be sliced. The deeper you go, the more sliced you get and the more intense the slicer field gets."

She looked at them. "Imagine walking in to an area were first thousands of sharp papers fly around and give you paper cuts. Then thousands of razor blades, then knifes, then vibro-knifes, after that we come to vibro-swords, light-daggers and light-sabers. They attack you from all directions at the same time."

She grinned. "Depending on the energy settings, those fields could cut down an armored repulsor tank and the best part is they don't use that much energy except when something is actually being destroyed."

The two young Jedi masters were silent. "Not much left of you then." Xander said as he watched.

There, he saw it, a tiny spark of light. One of the death probes, it must have been flying too low. "It's working," Xander said.

Jaina used the Force to push on a tree stump. She got it to fall down into the outer part of the slicing field where the cutting ability was weak.  
Just as Danni said it became cut asunder, tree splinters were flying as the field cut it slowly to sawdust.

"They're pumping up water from the drill hole, under the Ion cannon," Danni said.

Xander nodded. "I saw that. I've been thinking it could be an underground river. If so, we could use it as an entry point."

Jaina shook her head. "I don't like what I see. Under the standard carbine they had an under barrel attachment mounted on the rifles."

Xander frowned. "No way, that could be the N-132 Concussion attachment, if our luck is bad, or the Tensor weapon attachment," he did not like that.

Danni glanced at him. "What's a Tensor weapon?" she asked.

Xander, who had been studying up on the anti Jedi weapons, answered her. "Originally it was a Squib weapon. The Tensor rifle uses a tractor beam that pulsates in many different frequencies to rupture the cells off the targets body." He looked at them. "It's impossible to parry with a light-saber and if you get caught, all you can do is stand and vibrate unless you're strong enough to break free from the beam. Something that's not impossible from what I've heard. But if you're trapped for too long, the vibration slowly breaks the bones inside your body."

Danni blinked at the reply. "How do you know this?" she asked.

Xander shrugged. "The information that slime ball gave us at the club. It was in there, weapons against Jedi Knights." Slowly Xander started to smile. "It's our luck that we are Knights no more. We are Jedi Masters. It's time that we start acting like it." His grin was evil. Kyle Katarn had taught them the theory of shooting a base like this or bigger to dust and they had the weapons, the skills and the numbers. If Kyle could take a base like that with one against 1000 odds, 6 against 1000 should be much better.

-KNM-

Later

Finding a cave or an opening to the underground river was far more difficult than they had counted on. The hardest part was finding where the river was flowing underground.

Hidden behind a Force cloak Xander was swimming underwater as the advance force. The water was almost ice cold, but his armor isolated him. It took them an hour of walking, swimming and diving before they found the drill hole.

A huge cavern was being created by the digging machines. Pumps were active nonstop to remove the water the river was pouring inside the cavern. This was the place the underground power generator and command bunker were going to be built in, directly under the ION-Cannon.

He could see that part of the generator room was already built. The power generator could even be working already. The walls of the bunker were half finished, but none off the electronics had been installed yet.

He felt Jaina come up behind him. "We have to take it out somehow," he said.  
Jaina nodded. "But how?" she asked.

Xander started to smile. "Let's just install a micro charge inside the generator and let it go critical. Then a real bomb in the Ion cannon."

Jaina was silent for a moment, then nodded. "You're right. They should still be missing some of the security features on the generator still at this point."  
Rona and Chloe were moving closer, followed by Danni and Buffy. They told the girls to wait. Then they vanished into the power core room. The power generator was working at 2% of capacity. Putting the micro bombs in the right place so they would make the generator go into overdrive and cause a critical overload once they exploded. They would also destroy the failsafe.

They sneaked out.

Buffy in her light armor was watching. She really had no clue on what was happening right now, but shoot anything that moves and stay alive were pretty simple orders. She had demanded that she would come with them and help them. Now she wished she had demanded to remain in the ship.

Jaina used Force cloaking to hide the whole team as they started to climb up the shaft over the emergency stairs. A 1000 meter long shaft and they were inside the ion cannon. With bombs placed inside, they walked out.

Rona was holding a T-6 Thunderer in her left hand and her right hand held her penetrator.

Buffy held a blaster carbine; it was bigger, but did about the same amount of damage as the Thunderer.

Xander held his lightsaber-lightdagger, Jaina her lightsaber and a D-44 blaster.

It would not work to hide for long. A Force cloak extended to this size would take too much energy. Besides, this base was too close to Federation space. For the safety of civilian and military,

it had to be taken out.

A whispering voice came from behind them. "Are you sure this is a good idea. We're 5, they have thousands of soldiers?" Buffy said almost silently to Jaina and Xander.

The two nodded. "The moment we remove the shield generator, the rest is irrelevant," Xander said.

That was the target.

Naturally it was then things started to go bad.

"Halt or we will fire!" a voice said.

Turning around they could see a pair of soldiers aiming their rifles at them.

Xander blinked. No, they were aiming at Chloe. "Why do they see her?" he asked Jaina.

Jaina flinched. "Um, she must have moved out of my cloak, crap."

Xander nodded. "Then we have to use plan beta. I'll be the bait, Rona with me. Danni, Jaina and Buffy, please be careful," he said before de-cloaking. Beta was not his favorite plan. If a too great security existed around the shield projector for them to just sneak in, plan beta was to start fighting their way around. The others sneaked on and then had to force themselves through the last part while the security was running around trying to capture the wild one.  
Chloe swallowed, she had stepped too far away from Jaina and now she was visible and she had no idea where her friends were. They must be really close to where she was, but invisible and soundless to everyone, including her.

The two guards aimed the rifle. "Surrender now or you will be fired on."

Chloe shrugged and with a tiny finger movement activated her shield gauntlet. "Let's rock and roll," she smirked, pulling her trusted Dl-44 blaster up. She started to move towards the side.

The guards fired.

Chloe parried the blaster bolts with the shield and returned the attack with her blaster. They did not parry her bolts and then the alarm started to sound.  
Soldiers were running towards the area.

Big guns, from the fence, were aimed at the yard.

Chloe swallowed. She really wanted back up, right now.

A click and hiss, click and hiss was her answer as Xander suddenly decloaked, like a Klingon bird of prey, he just shimmered and was suddenly there.

"Keep moving," he said silently to her.

The Republic troopers stopped in pure panic. Whether it was a Jedi, Sith or Dark-Jedi, they only knew one thing: they were in deep space without a hyperdrive. (Equal to the saying: they were floating down the shit river without a paddle)

Chloe nodded."You look like Batman," she grinned and started to move as fast as she could.

"Where do you think I got my inspiration from?" Xander said, grinning, except he refused to go all black, too brood boy for his taste.

Then the first soldier fired his gun and the under barrel attachment, a concussion gun. It could fire bolts of particles in rapid fire or slower bolts that  
exploded like a grenade. The charge of accelerated particles was impossible for a Jedi to parry, according to the information they had.

Xander just waved his lightsaber in the air. He had trained. The accelerated particles moved fast, but his mind was faster. Using Force push he deflected the bolt and then started to move. Blaster bolts followed by concussion bolts were parried, deflected, jumped over or dodged. Then at the last second he flipped the switch on both hilts, turning the dagger into a one meter long blade and the lightsaber in to a 2 meter long great-lightsaber.

The troopers were firing as fast as they could on the Jedi and he just kept coming closer, then cut, slashed and stabbed when he was among them, dancing as he used both blades in lightsaber and great-Lightsaber form. Slash, cut, slash, he twisted around. It was the cadence again, only instead of steel ball bearings the targets were soldiers. Slash, cut, slash, he twisted around and out on the other side leaving behind him eleven soldiers, screaming, dying or dead.

Chloe ignored the carnage behind her. More soldiers were coming. Dodging behind a speeder truck she grabbed a rifle and opened fire. Where the hell where Jaina and the others?

A sudden scream of pain from the death fence answered her question.

-KNM-

Rona was before the tower. She pulled the spring of a grenade and let roll it in as she joined Xander and Chloe in the yard.

On the other side of the yard Jaina and Buffy had arrived at the shield generator. It was locked and too hard to cut open. Especially with the big guns that could stop a Jedi from trying to open the door. They would have to enter the garrison.

"Xander plan, we have to enter the garrison. Cause some destruction inside would you?" Jaina sent over to him.

On the other side Xander nodded "Right." The towers were opening fire. "Rona, Chloe, give me a hug," he said. He had to get out of that open area. The two girls rushed to him, hugging him hard.

This was not easy. As he held the two girls close to his body armor, Xander bent his knees and jumped. Starting with a Force enhanced jump he lifted up in the air with rocket speed. Then with Force flight he started to fly towards the garrison roof.

Before the soldiers or gun turrets had a chance, Rona, Chloe and Xander had landed.

He was on his knee. "That was heavier than expected."

Chloe sniffed. "You saying I'm heavy?" she glared at him.

Xander shrugged. "Keep fighting, diet later," he growled out.

Rona looked around. "Look, it's a door," she said.

They rushed at it and now they were inside.

Where to go, where to go?

Xander frowned as he oriented himself, feeling where the right way should be. "That way," he said.

The girls followed him.

He was searching for a specific target, the sensor bridge of this garrison. Just because he was a distraction, didn't mean that he didn't have a mission of his own.

A blind garrison was a good garrison.

Around them the alarms were screaming and soldiers were rushing them. Rona opened fire the moment she saw troopers. Somehow she now held her Thunderer heavy pistol and her trusted Penetrator heavy sport pistol both in the shield gauntleted hand. Chloe had a stolen rifle with concussion attachment.  
The crackling thundering sound of a Tensor weapon was heard as the wall started to crack.

Xander dodged. "Tensor tension rifle. A tractor beam, which rips you asunder at a cellular level!" he said to the girls. Even armor would be ripped asunder. Hard armor like his breastplate had improved protection against that sort of weapon, but soft or flexible armor gave almost no protection at all.

In the corridor they could see four soldiers using big Tensor rifles. They were shaking from the guns' feedback. Aiming was hard as the feedback made their arms jump up and down.

Xander shrugged. "Chloe, shoot high, make them jump." he said, preparing to move at full Jedi speed. "Rona, you're with me. Use the lightsaber."

Rona nodded and put the Thunderer away. She stared to speed up, from her normal speed of 4 times faster than a normal human to 8 times. "Can't do this for long X," she reminded him.

Chloe rolled out and send a rain of explosions down the corridors.

A beam form a Tensor gun hit her and she started to jump around as her armor was being ripped asunder fragment after fragment and the beam itself made her shake like she was having an epileptic attack. Xander send a massive Force push into the corridor, making most of the soldiers lose their foothold and trip, but not the one hitting Chloe.

Rona and Xander started to move fast towards the group, to save Chloe.

Focusing, Chloe slowly pushed away, charging her normally twice as strong and fast body, she rolled back away from the beam into safety. Going from her normal two times strength and speed to the double was difficult for her, but now they knew you could move away even if you were trapped inside the beam of a Tensor gun. Her armor had taken most of the damage. If the soldiers had been smart, they would have shot her while she was still trapped by the Tensor beam.

Then the screaming started as Xander and Rona had managed to reach the soldiers and there on the other side of the soldiers, behind thick blast doors, was the sensor bridge. Xander started to grin as he drove his lightsaber into the door.

Chloe climbed up. It was time to fight, not to think. Charging inside, she remembered her plans from when she was a young girl.  
1 Become a photo model. If not, then 2, become a singer or an artist. Becoming an elite fighter and Force Guardian protecting Jedi was not that far away from her childhood dreams, not in her opinion anyway.

"Are you hurt?" Rona asked. Chloe's armor looked broken and ripped open. She would have to rebuild the breast plate completely.

Chloe shook her head. "No, I'm fine. It's just so different than what I imagined my future would be."

"I'm glad you are not hurt Chloe," Xander said, turning away from the melting door and giving Chloe a hug. "Let's not get hurt again." It was his fault. A tension rifle was not directly deadly it just broke bones, if you remained trapped too long.

More soldiers were coming. Xander let Rona take over as he took care of them.

Gas grenades, they were trying to gas them. Xander almost snorted too bad he was trained by the Jedi AND the Jensaarai. Using protective armor was natural for him. Beside they had given him more tools to fight with.

As the deadly nerve gas filled the corridors Chloe and Rona held their breath. Even with the armor life-support protecting them, they were nervous.

It started slow, a tiny wind that grew more and more powerful in the corridor, sending away the deadly gas towards the Republic soldiers and following the gas was Jedi Master Xander Harris. With lightsabers in hand he dived in to attack. As Xander was battling more and more enemies Rona got the blast door open. "It's open!" she yelled.

"Take care of it!" Xander yelled back.

The two girls nodded as they rushed inside and after a few moments rushed out again, followed shortly by a big explosion inside the sensor bridge. They put a deadly rain of blaster bolts into the enemies Xander was still fighting.

Xander was deep in the Jar'Kai, a double bladed lightsaber combat form, like a hot knife through butter he slaughtered his way, cutting arms and legs as he parried or dodged blaster bolts. His left hand was swinging out low then moved up, starting in the Sho-Mok cut which removed a leg and ended in the Cho-Mai, the cutting off, of a weapon hand.

His right hand moved at the same time with Sai-Cha, the cutting of the weapon arm at the shoulder, then into a Sun-Djem, the cutting of a weapon. As the blaster carbine he'd cut in two was starting to explode, Xander Force pushed the enemy away. Then came the finishing move, a double Mou-Kei, the disarming of two enemies at the same time. With two simultaneous circular motions, four arms and four legs fell down on the floor, removed from their two owners. The owners of the limbs followed, screaming in pain and shock at losing all of their arms and legs.

He tried to save the killing move, the Sai-cha, cutting of the head, and Sai-tok, cutting an opponent in half, for when he was facing officers.

When the girls were done he was just using a Cho-mai attack. The blaster carbine fell to the floor and the gun was fired by the still twitching and cutoff hand.

"Argh!" Xander yelled as the shot actually hit him.

He felt a biting pain in his left foot and stumbled down on his knee. The Republic soldiers around him saw their chance and closed in for an attack. With speed born from the hardest training and the strongest willpower, Xander pushed out with the Force, sending a huge Force wave against them. It was just like a Force push, but with a blast radius which affected all around him. It was simply a telekinetic explosion, draining his strength, but also crushing those standing too close.

For the soldiers standing around him it was as if the Jedi had exploded with the power of a thermal detonator. All around him they were flying and crashing down on the floor from the powerful push he had send their way.

Standing up on his one good leg, using the Force to ignore the pain and compensate for the stump his left leg now ended in, Xander continued fighting.  
Rona swallowed, the hit was a good one. Xander left foot looked burned to a crisp. For a moment she thought he would die as the troopers all aimed their guns at him. Then they were flying all around the corridors, crashing down 4, 5, some up to 7 meters away. The other soldiers in the hallway had to dodge the impact of their missile like friends, leaving Xander standing alone in the middle of a 3 meter radius circle.

He was limping along, standing on the burned leftovers of his armored boot and armor. As he turned to the still standing soldiers, Rona and Chloe rushed to his side. It was Rona that solved the battle quickly. Using the power of high explosives, she started to throw hand grenades at the enemy.

Faced with two lightsaber waving fighters and one casting hand grenades, the soldiers pulled back, calling for reinforcement.

With the sensor down Xander, Rona and Chloe rushed to hide and do some critical first aid.

Xander sighed as they almost carried him away. His thoughts wandered for a moment. If only dad was here, his psi healing abilities would be sweet to have. On the other hand, Mom and Dad are too peaceful to fight, they could get hurt.

-KNM-

At the same time On Shesharile 5 at the Jedi academy.

"Ye see. My partner and I figured we could earn some big money, right?" The strange looking Duros, wearing an armor that was made from different pieces of real body armor welded together, said, aiming his gun at Tony. His partner, a big burly human with a cybernetic arm, growled at them while holding a blaster carbine in each hand. "Give me a kiss, honey," he said, moving towards Jessica.

Tony looked on with cold eyes. "You do not wish to do that," he said, standing in the way of the human cyborg. "This is a place where Jedi are trained," he said with conviction in his voice.

But the Duros grinned a evilly. "Heh, I know for fact the powerful ones are all out of town. Only the kiddies are here, and you, Master Harris' mom and dad, two pacifist healers with no weapon skills or power in the Force." He looked over at his cybernetic friend. "I bet Jedi Master Harris is going to pay a fortune to get you back and if not, my friend is going to have lots of fun with your wife." He laughed. Soon they would beg for mercy.

They did not.

Tony stood still as the cyborg came towards him, then he put his hand on his body. Softly he said, "You two really are stupid. I do not need weapon or the Force. I'm a psychic healer."

The criminal Duro blinked as his friend suddenly dropped both of his blaster carbines. "What?" Blood started too gurgle out from his mouth, as he started to tremble and shake, his arms and legs jerking in some kind of a seizure. "What happened?"

Tony looked strangely entreating now. "I am a psionic healer. What I can heal, I can also destroy. Heart failure, a cardiac arrest, his blood is thickening, blocking of the flow of blood to his brain." He took yet another step toward the Duros who was now backing away. "I can assure you, it's quite painful."

"Stay away from me. Understand? Now back off!" the Duros said, grabbing Jessica, who unnoticed had moved too near to him. "Save my friend or I'm going to kill both of you. Get it? I. I." he shook his head. "Why, I? My sister hated me," he said, shivering, as painful memories rushed through his memory. "I never wanted to be a criminal, its. I…" He fell to the floor, tears falling down his pale blue skin. "Why is it always me?"

Jessica smiled. "I keep him down, you call the law officer," she said smiling as she focused her own mental abilities, telepathy and empathy skills, to making the poor criminal's mind be overrun by the terror and sadness he experienced in his life. "So just cry. It gets better in jail," she lied.

Tony smiled as he walked over to the communication center. He stopped as he poked the sleeping cyborg in the head. Causing an epileptic attack, like the one he had induced in the man, could create permanent damage if you were careless and criminal or not, Tony had no wish at all to hurt anybody if he could avoid it.

He frowned as he focused his powers, looking inside. Perfect, no permanent damage or side effects from the epileptic attack and he even tricked the Duros into believing it was a heart attack. No, creating a heart attack was something he would only use on truly dangerous criminals.

With the Duros afraid and off balance, concentrating on him, he had given Jessica the opening she needed for her weak mental ability to work.

-KNM-

At the same time Xander and company were hidden in an officer's quarters.

Rona swallowed as she pulled what was left of the boot and lower armor of. "It's all burned up," she said.

"Cut it off, amputate it. The foot is gone. I can feel it in the Force, its dead." Xander said, showing Rona where the dead part ended. It was where his left foot met his left leg. "Cut here and then cauterize the wound." He reached out with his Shota hilt.

It was poetic in a way, after doing so many Cho-mai and Sho-mok cuts he had lost his own foot because he had forgotten that even a removed hand could fire a gun.

He looked at Rona, giving her his light-dagger. "For now use my Shota, it's shorter than your lightsaber and easier to control when you cut." He smiled at her.

"Then use a wood, plastic or steel rod as a splint. I need temporary prosthesis to walk or limp with."

"What? You are going to fight like that?" Chloe said in a fearful voice.

Xander nodded. "Come here," he said, giving the younger girl a hug. "Don't be afraid. It's only a foot. I have one more."

Chloe blinked and looked at Rona, who also looked afraid as she spoke up. "It's your foot, Xander," Rona cried out.

Xander looked at her. "Come here, you too," he said again, hugging Rona with the other hand. "So, feeling better?" he asked them.

The two girls nodded as they dried their tears. Rona ignored for the moment that she was only two years younger than Xander. Right now she felt like a child and her hero was hurt.

Rona stood up and Xander gave her a smile. "More cutting, less talking, and Rona, if it's my foot, don't you cry. I don't." He kept the 3 years younger Chloe hugged to him. "Don't worry, Chloe, you aren't going to feel any pain." He comforted her and gave her a silly smile.

Even using Jedi meditation to suppress the pain, the sight of Rona carving away the death flesh that had once been his foot was nauseating. For a moment he was fighting the instinct to cry out and claim Rona was cutting off the wrong foot, but somehow he had the feeling that that wouldn't go down so well with the girls.

Rona already looked sick as she carved his foot.

Chloe sniffed. "Right. I'm just so worried." She sniffed some more as the tears fell. Xander had always seemed to be invincible and now he was wounded. He didn't say anything, yet he looked almost grey in the face from his pain.

Xander grinned. "Don't worry. I'll find myself a parrot somewhere." His grin grew wider. "Aarg, me maties, here dere be a pirate." He could feel Chloe giggle in his arms. It had shocked the younger girl, seeing him hurt like this. He wondered why she was so traumatized by it. She had seen other humans getting hurt.

Even as she cut and cauterize the food Rona could not help but to giggle at Xander's antics.

Xander meditated. Inside his body bactate healing cookies and other healing drugs where working on him and his Jedi healing was active. He had also reduced the pain in the foot. He forced himself to feel no pain in the left leg.

It wasn't a good solution and he would crash soon.

The big sound of an explosion almost distracted him. Jaina, Buffy and Danni had activated the bombs inside the shield generator and all the soldiers were looking for Xander and gang and not for Jaina, who had sneaked inside the more important part of the base.

"And all the king's men and all the king's horses could not put the shield back together again," he said, smirking.

The creaking sound of the door, as it opened, was all the warning they needed. The three shimmered and vanished under Xander's Force cloak.

It did not work. The officer's eye lighted up in shock and fear. "They are here!" he screamed, then fell down as Chloe's blaster burned away part off his forehead. Rona activated her gauntlet shield and grabbed the Thunderer heavy pistol in one hand as she and Chloe lead the carnage this time.

Xander limped after them, helping from the rear. Using weapons and broken parts, he sent a rain of deadly missiles flying at the enemy. Then he frowned, there was one form of lightsaber combat he had never tried in a real fight: telekinetic lightsaber combat. He'd trained in it. His control wasn't that good, but he could use it. Grabbing his Shota, he cast it at the enemy. The lightdagger activated itself and started to whirl around in a circle, like a yellow glowing saw blade.

Rona grinned, "Great work Xander."

He grinned back. "Ay lass, call me stumpy the hearty."

Chloe giggled. The wound wasn't half as bad as his pirate jokes.

-KNM-

A short while later

Now they would escape down to the hangar, where Jaina was working hard to override the computers. One of the Repulsor skiffs was being loaded with the spare parts the Enterprise needed.

The parts were being carried by Buffy and Danni. Jaina was preparing a small shuttle, loading in a speeder bike. She would start with the shuttle, seeking help in space. It was a small craft, but one equipped with a hyperdrive, and since it was so tiny, she could Force cloak it. While that was happening, Danni, Buffy, Rona, Chloe and Xander would go in the skiff. It was even smaller than the shuttle and easy for Xander to Force cloak.

Jaina just knew that Xander was in trouble. She had felt his pain echo in the Force, something had hurt her man.

Time was running out for Xander.

-KNM-

Later

Xander riding on Rona's back was a sight to see. Xander looked drained, using the Force to do so many things at the same time, fighting and hiding had drained him.

"Xander," Jaina said as she hugged him, checking his vital state using the Force.

Danni was next over. "That is not good," she said.

Jaina agreed. He would never be able to get them out of here now. "We have to take the skiff, all of us."

Danni said, "No, I'm a good pilot, I can take the shuttle. I distract them and then run. I should be able to out run them." Seeing Jaina starting to protest, she quickly said, "I am a Jedi. Still in training, but I am good," she smiled.

Jaina frowned and thought that that was true. They would need the distraction the shuttle would give then, but it was extremely dangerous for Danni and she was the only one now who was able to use Force cloak. Xander was done for, at least or the time being.

Rona nodded. "Danni and me together, I'm a great pilot and gunner. Danni is a great navigator and pilot. With the two of us, it's no problem."

Jaina looked frustrated. "You're right. Alright and remember, do not die."

They nodded, giving Jaina a quick hug.

-KNM-

Later in the skiff

"What happened to Xander?" Buffy asked.

"Nothing, I just seem to have lost a foot. Anybody saw it jumping around?" Xander said, smiling. He was falling down in a Jedi healing trance now.  
Buffy swallowed. Oh god, he was crippled for life. She felt so sorry for him.

-KNM-

Later

As the shuttle started to fly its way up, it shot the death fence to pieces and then quickly left for space. Making use of the distraction, a Force cloaked skiff flew away unnoticed.

Danni and Rona were worried as they saw XJ-wings and Howlrunners attacking them. "This is not going to be easy." Rona said.

Danni nodded. "If we die, I just wanted you to know that Riley thinks you're sexy and I'm happy we are friends."

The two started to fly as fast as they could in the badly armored and armed shuttle. If those fighters got into shooting range, they would be dead.

Chapter 7

The next morning in the Enterprise

The bed wasn't as comfortable as his normal bed. Looking around Xander saw R3 standing guard and the normal medic droid was also there.  
He was sleeping in the tiny corner of the Enterprise that housed the med-bay.

"Jaina?" he asked with a worried voice.

With hair sticking out at every direction and with tired eyes Jaina looked up. "Yes?"

Xander never had seen anything look as wonderful as she did. "I love you," he said.

Jaina smiled. "Dito, so, what happened to your foot?"

Xander blinked. "What foot? Oh, my foot. I was hoping that was a dream." Then he remembered. "Oh, I have to get a parrot or a monkey."

Jaina could only blink in confusion at that.

Behind her Buffy, Dawn and Lexa started to giggle. He was going to be just fine.

-KNM-

Later, after Jaina had gotten a much needed rest

The package of stolen spare parts Jaina had gathered in the garrison was just what the doctor ordered. It wouldn't be enough to fix all of the damage the Enterprise had suffered, but it would patch her up good enough to be able to fly again.

By the evening Xander was jumping around, as together with R3 and R6 he repaired what he could with either Lexa or Dawn as his henchgirl of the moment. Buffy and Chloe were his trusted assistants. Willow was watching and asking questions, trying to learn as much as possible and generally getting in the way. Her need to learn and be useful was almost painful to her and Xander didn't have the heart to ask her to leave or be quite.

Jaina hunched down beside him. "Need help honey?" she asked.

Xander grinned. "Always darling, there's so much damage in here I feel a foot short." He smiled up to her. "And yes, lots of foot jokes will the rest of you have to suffer. Cause the foot is strong in me."

Jaina sighed. "What happen?" she asked, wondering how they had gotten him.

Xander rolled his eyes. "I forgot a fundamental truth. Cut of body parts will sometimes twitch after they are cut off. "

The girls blinked. "I was fighting this guy with a carbine. So I did a quick disarming move. When the hand holding the gun landed, it twitched. Next I knew, my left foot was no more." He shrugged. Another lesson he needed to teach and learn.

Buffy noted the phrasing of that. "Disarming move?" she asked, fearing the answer.

Xander answered: "Yeah, enemies without hands do not fight." He saw the former slayer look shocked. "Prosthetic or cybernetics, it's easy to replace a damaged hand or arm, Buffy. Less than a week and the wounded are up and running again, a foot is nothing." He leaned forward. "But a cut of head is different, that makes them dead." He grabbed a bunch of hydro spanners, trying to figure out which one was the right size.

Buffy nodded. "I know, war and stuff, you have to kill sometimes. It just sounds so cruel to cut of arms and stuff." She sighed. "Better then killing them, I guess. It's just…"

Xander nodded. "I understand. Believe me, I understand."

Buffy was silent for a moment. "Do you really?" she said in wonder. "I remember how you saved me. How you saved the world and saved me with one single lie. It was the right thing to do. But how many could or would do that?"

Willow was silent. She too remembered Xander's confession of how he had lied to Buffy about the resouling spell, a lie which had sent Angel to hell, but saved the world and perhaps Buffy's life too.

Xander shrugged. "Most would. It was needed," he said, starring in the engine. "I just wish that it wasn't me who did it. I believed that if I told you the truth, you would have stalled for time and Angelus would have ended us all. But I wish that I could have said I'm sorry to Angel. I never liked Angel, but I respected him. I never hated him, he was a hero. Also an idiot dickhead, but still a hero, and I respected that."

Dawn, Lexa and also Jaina and Chloe who did not know the story, were confused.

Willow smiled. "He returned shortly after you were gone. He said the demons had told him it was you that saved the world from him."

Xander grimaced. "Was he angry?" he asked.

Buffy smiled. "No. He said that you saved the world and he would rather have spent an eternity in hell than see the world turned into one by his hands." She looked at him. "One thing he said was that he wished to thank you and that he hoped if Angelus ever returned, one of us would dust him as fast as possible."

Xander shook his head fondly. "Dead-boy, always the hero," he smiled a bit.

Willow said, "He also told us, it was YOU that forced him down to the Master's cave, where you gave Buffy CPR." She looked at him.

In the past Xander would have tried to deny this, but the time for that was gone. "The Master was both Angel's and Angelus' worst nightmare given flesh. I respect Angel because there is almost nothing he fears to fight. That night he let an untrained boy, armed with a stake he had no skill in using and a cross dangling from a chain, overpower him and force him down to the Master's cave." He gave them a look. Most of them blinked, unable to comprehend what he said.

Lexa was first. "He, he walked in by his own choice. You were just a wakeup call," she said.

Xander nodded. "Yea, he overcame his greatest fear to help me save Buffy. That is something only a hero would and can do. Even the greatest heroes have times of weakness. Times when they need help to find their own courage or a boot to the ass." He could not believe he was defending Angel, but fact was fact." He had good reasons to fear the Master, he was a powerful master vampire with the ability to dominate other vampires and enslave them to his will."  
Most of the girls nodded. Some were thinking perhaps other heroes, but not my brother/Not Xander/not Xander or Jaina. (Lexa/Dawn/Chloe)

Jaina asked: "What about you then?"

Xander answered: "Me? I was a fool with no training, no skills and no idea how dangerous it was. Ye cruel kings be warned, ye lords and kings take heed of my words. Fear the fool which crosses your path," he said with a grin.

"Where does that come from?" Buffy asked.

Xander leaned forward as he started to remove a broken gizmo. "That, Buffy, was written down as a warning to the next generations on the planet Korriban. On a grave stone where a terrible Dark Lord of the Sith lies." It was a text found by a Jedi archeologist that had bravely defied the dark side ghosts of dead Siths on the planet.

It was quite amusing.

They were all silent as the two young Jedi Masters started the repairs.

Lexa was puzzled. "I wonder why they should fear a fool?" she said. "A desperate man I can imagine, but a fool?"

Dawn shrugged. "Perhaps because they have no idea what the idiot is going to do next."

Willow nodded. "No wonder that the garrison couldn't stop them. They had no idea what Jaina and Xander would do next," she said, giggling.

Jaina and Xander blinked as they turned to the giggling red head. "Hey. Kyle Katarn taught us exactly what to do." Run in like a fool and shoot anything trying to stop you. It works every time.

-KNM-

Two weeks later

There was nothing more they could do. The Enterprise was as good as they could make her with the limited spare parts and equipment they had. If Danni and Rona had survived, help would arrive soon.

Xander and Jaina were sitting near Dawn, Willow and Lexa. Dawn and Willow were learning about the Force. Lexa was listening in on the lesson, trying to find way to adapt anything she learned to her own PSI abilities.

Willow was disappointed that Xander had refused to teach her. "Why would you teach Dawn, but not me?"

Xander sighed as he interrupted the lesson. "There are many reasons. It's actually both our fault. First, I see you as a source of wisdom and learning.  
Second, until I'm sure you see me as a master, somebody to learn FROM, somebody whose wisdom in this area overshadow yours. I'm unable to teach you safely." He smiled. "It was only thanks to you I even managed basic school, Willow. You were the brain, not me or Jessie."

Willow was silent. "I understand and you are right," she whispered. He was right. She had a hard time taking him seriously. "But you are wrong about school, you were smart once."

Xander, Buffy, Dawn, Lexa and Jaina looked confused.

Willow started talking, her face almost grey as the painful memory was dragged up from her memory. "It was our first year in school. Your grade was almost the same as mine. I was better in Math, but not by much. In English and history you were better than I was. We loved school, both of us, learning was so much fun. Then you started to be afraid to go home from school, you said that your dad called you a sissy and some days you had bruises. Nobody noticed that you were hurt at home or listened to you begging for help and the adults didn't listen to me either, none of them did, when I tried to tell them your dad was hurting you, Xander. Not even my mom and dad listened or cared. Then a month after the school started your grade started to slip, you became stupid, a clown who hated school." Her face, normally so alive and happy, was grey and tears were dripping from her face as she looked up. "In time I forgot about how smart you were. I think even you forgot about it."

Lexa looked with horror at both Willow and Xander. "Your dad did that?" she whispered.

Willow nodded. "He did that and more. Your dad is completely different than Xander's version of Tony Harris. The difference is like night and day."

Xander, who was still sitting nearby, frowned. "My memory of that period is foggy. Almost like there's something I wanted to hide." He focused his will inside and used a memory enhancing Force technique. Flashes of a drunken Tony beating him up, calling him a girly worthless boy, his mother just as drunk and just ordering him to listen to his father, came up, then the pain, even as he gave up on himself and hid himself from the pain, also hiding his intelligence.  
Jaina sat down beside Xander. "Honey, are you alright?" she asked.

He nodded. "Willow was right. My. My version of Tony almost tortured me until I just gave up. He couldn't tolerate that I was smarter than he was. He had to destroy me just to feel good about himself."

He smiled reassuringly at Jaina and then looked at Lexa. "I am so happy that I found you, sister, and your version of Tony and Jessie is a million times better than my version. Their presence has given me something I have longed for so much. A mother and father who are proud of me and a younger sister I love and can spoil rotten," he said with a smile.

Lexa grinned at that. "Sweet, more gifts," was all she said, but she was shaken by it all. Her mom and dad were not the greatest parents in the world. Where they came from dad always had to work overtime healing the sick and Jessica, while a caring and understanding mother, drove her up the wall sometimes with her telepathic and empathic abilities. A mom that could read your mind was frustrating. It was impossible to lie to her.

But unlike Xander, she had always known they loved her and cared for her. Even when the Anti-PSI gang was burning crosses outside their home, she knew that her mom and dad loved her and as a healer Tony Harris had plenty of friends among the normal humans that protected him. A PSI-Healer was a valued treasure that was protected. After Xander had found them and offered them a home in this galaxy far away, she had become family to him first. Now she could understand why Xander had so much difficulty accepting her mom and dad. Now she could understand why Willow was so hostile in the beginning.  
Knowing her mother, she most likely knew what had happened to Xander and that must be so painful for her to know, that a version of herself was abusing her own child, and that dad, a healer and helper, did the same. Lexa could not even imagine him ever hurting anybody willingly. "That doesn't even sound like my mom and dad," she whispered.

Xander shrugged. "The reason could be that in our reality there was a Hellmouth and they lived on top of it. Who knows what terrors my mom and dad had to suffer during their teen years?"

They were interrupted by a strange sound. The sound echoing in the cave was indeed very strange. Then it came again, a soft vibration followed by an almost growling sound from the earth itself.

The Enterprise sensors suddenly came alive again. Turbolasers. Someone was using turbolasers at the garrison.

Then the hyper-radio activated. "This is Federation ship 'Wave of Freedom' calling Enterprise. Come in Enterprise. Code: niner niner, Delta, alpha, Radius omega."

Then it repeated itself again and again.

Xander quickly pushed the button twice, sending a short answer. "Jaina, it's time to lift off," he said.

She hurried into the cockpit. Xander was already warming up the engines of the damaged Enterprise.

Many civilian ships needed a warm up of an hour. The Falcon needed less than five minutes and the Enterprise was almost the same. Twelve minutes and it was ready to fight and fly.

They could do a cold start, but that wasn't good for the engine. Right now they waited. Outside, the sensors were still on passive and listening only, they  
could see starfighters in the air and in space.

One by one the ships system came to green.

Xander activated the intercom. "Dawn, Chloe report to the gun turrets, Chloe, you ride top." He wanted the best gunner in the fully working turret. The bottom quad turret had only 3 working cannons at the moment.

"Willow? Get your butt in here."

A red blur of movement and Willow was at the sensor controls. Sure, Danni was better, but Willow had a flair that was surprising, especially for one with almost no training.

Once a computer expert, always computer expert, he mused and she had both R3 and R6 as backup.

"They are passive Xander. Should I activate them?" Willow asked.

Xander answered: "The moment we've taken off." He looked at the readings; everything was ready. The Repulsors activated, atmospheric thrusters online and ion engine on ready.

Slowly the Enterprise turned around in the small cave, like a sea-turtle rising from the sea. He activated the ion engine and walls of steam started to rise as the burning hot engine incinerated the water around the ship and heated up the walls of the cave itself.

Surrounded by mist the Enterprise exited the cave like a bullet from a gun.

"This is Enterprise to –Wave of Freedom- code: Jade, jade Malar, Malar, Xal, Solac, Janna, nine omegas, Chaos." Jaina entered the code. Jade and Malar twice was because there were two Jedi Masters, Xal and Janna based on their own name.

It was not the greatest code, but it was easy to remember, even if it had to be replaced after being used once.

The Wave of Freedom answered directly. "Good to see you alive and well, Master Solo and Mistress Solo." The voice sounded familiar.

Jaina frowned. "Is that you Wedge?" she asked.

The man answered directly. "Affirmative. How is your situation?" Jaina replied: "We'd like to come and visit, but there are some big bad wolfs in the forest and an escort would be nice. Have any brave heroes willing to help Red Ridinghood out?"

In the Wave Wedge grinned. "I'm sending you the Slayer Squadron. Just keep to the path, do not deviate from the course."

Xander picked up the microphone. "Don't worry, Grandma. Little Red Ridinghood will keep to the path this time. The big bad wolf will go hungry."  
Inside the ship General Wedge Antilles laughed out loud. During one of Corran Horns visit at the Solo Jedi academy both the Antilles and the Horn family had come along, even Boster Terrik was there.

Somehow as the night turned darker, the Jedi had started to talk about myths and fairytales. Xander, being a monster and demon hunter on his own world, knew many strange stories and he told them the blood icing tale about the Slayer Red Hooding and the werewolf of the forest.

The story that later became a children's story known as "Little Red Ridinghood." He liked the children's version much better.

-KNM-

Space was a mess.

A fleet of Federation ships was in the area. Having a military outpost behind their own line of combat was not a good idea. Equipped with long range fighters, any place within a week in hyperspace could be attacked. So they had gathered together and were now pounding the base to gravel.

-KNM-

Later inside the Wave of Freedom

Han Solo and Leia watched with joy as their daughter and son-in-law walked out. "That had to hurt," Han said, seeing Xander's foot. "Hi honey," he then said, hugging his daughter. Was that a stuffed bird sitting on Xander's shoulder? "I was so worried," he said while hugging Jaina, his eyes still looking at the strange stuffed bird on Xander's shoulder.

Leia was hugging her from the other side, before she turned and gave Xander a one-armed hug. "We were so worried." She noticed the bird too and cold not help herself: "And we are feeling more and more worried now. Why do you have a stuffed bird on your shoulder?"

Han grinned and said, as he grabbed Xander shoulder, helping him limp along "Typical Jedi, constantly leaving body parts behind. Didn't Luke warn you about losing body parts?"

"Only about heads and hands and the bird is a tradition. Any good pirate has a pet parrot." Xander said, smirking.

Jaina scoffed. "And you are not getting a parrot, no way," she smiled.

Xander sighted. "But with a wooden leg and a parrot I would make a perfect pirate. See what I have to live with?" he whined.

Leia sighed and said: "Master Alexander. You are a Jedi, not a pirate. Try to be an adult." She was smiling at the way he was acting. In the area of teaching combat skills and even helping others find their own strengths, Xander was great, especially in lightsaber combat.

Han Solo could not help himself and laughed at the way Xander acted. He himself was an old smuggler, but during the old days he had done some acts of piracy, attacking other cargo ships for their cargo. That was the time.

The last mock fight Luke, Xander and Kyle Katarn had done using training lightsabers against each other was a fight of legend. Luke was the last Jedi standing, but not by that far. Kyle lost, he was a dirty fighter, but so was Xander, and his uncanny ability to use two light-blades at the same time was impressive. It was not as simple as just picking up a blade. A Jedi channeled the Force into the blade and made it move faster, cut deeper and become a tool of the Force itself.

Most Jedi were able to use ONE and only one lightsaber like that.

Luke could use two, but preferred to use only one, and he still kicked Xander and Kyle's butt in a magnificent display of training combat.

Xander was the opposite. He could use only one, but liked the feeling of two blades in his hands during combat.

Leia, who had taken a refreshment course with Xander as her Jedi Master, knew that first hand. Luke was teaching his students a more simplified type of lightsaber combat. Luke, Corran Horn and Kam Solusar had developed a new form, based on old quick lightsaber learning forms. During the old times Jedi learned lightsaber combat forms in childhood. Most of Luke students were teenagers and adults. They needed to learn and Luke wanted them to learn methods to defend themselves quickly.

The fast style looked a bit like Ataru, but it shared more with Soresu in how you use the blade. The medium style was a good fallback form of combat. It was similar to Shii-Cho and Niman form with a bit of Ataru mixed in. The strong style was where they sacrificed speed for power. Good for strong fighters, it looked like Chii-Cho or Djem-so in action.

Those three forms were developed. Each of them was weaker than the original 6 forms.  
(It was 7 forms actually, but no one knew whether Luke or Xander knew the last form. Xander did know some of it, but not much. He was still learning it. )

The three new forms of combat had one advantage: they were easy to learn and once you mastered the 3 forms, you could quickly start learning the 6 greater forms.

But the Medium form was superior to Form 1, Shii-Cho, which was a relic from the days Jedi still used swords and not lightsabers, at least in Leia's opinion.  
Xander's academy, with a smaller number of students, had the luxury of teaching only the 6 greater forms, and once they mastered the basics he showed them the strengths and weaknesses with the three new forms. Because of that, Xander's small school often had, on Luke recommendation, more experienced Jedi or sometimes Jedi who had just graduated coming by for higher lightsaber combat lessons, which they got, as long as they helped as extra teachers for the new students.

Leia smiled sadly at Xander as he limped along, using her daughter and husband as a crutch. Seeing the normally strong and fast young man limping was a painful thing to see.


	3. Chapter 8 and 9

Chapter 8 

Later at the starport

The Enterprise was a mess.

It needed repairs, partial rebuilding and removing of the rodent and insect infection that had crawled onto the ship during its down time. Xander left the work to the experts as he rejoiced being back with the gang again, but the Beast had escaped them. 

-KNM- 

At the same time far away

Lady Lumiya looked at the creature standing by her side. "Your ability to infect and mutate others is impressive." She glared at him. "Now why would I trust you in my service?" she asked.

The being bowed, "My lady, I have followed the sign of your darkness across the galaxy. Give me an order and I will follow it. My life is yours and I have information about the Solo family."

He grinned. "And about my breed of creature…" He waved his hand at the newly created vampire. "Do you feel it? They are worshiping you already. We are pure darkside beasts; we need a darksider to fight for, let us be yours, my lady."

Lumiya frowned as she felt the corruptive echo inside the now turned beings. One was a Duros, one a Twi'lek and the rest humans. The new creatures looked at her and she could feel their emotions, the awe and worship they felt, like a dog for its master, but also stupidity and lack of emotional control, unlike the first one, who called himself Beast. "Yes Beast, they are useful, very useful." She turned to him. "Now, what about you, my friend?" This one was different. He was like them, but the infection seemed to have just turned him more evil and focused, not stupid and lacking in control.

Beast shrugged. "We are the Alpha the leaders of the pack. The rest are minions. Older minions can become alphas like me, if given time, and some are born this way. So far I have killed all the other alphas I could. I can control other minions, just like you can. I trust that you can."

Lumiya just looked at him, then back at the most stupid looking vampire. "Dust yourself," she said and the vampire minion did. "You said you have information about the Solo family?" She smiled at the reaction she felt. She felt the hatred inside of Beast, hatred overshadowed only by her own and deep inside the dark pit there was an almost doglike fascination inside of him. Yes, she could trust him as far as you could trust any dangerous beast. If he ever felt another master or mistress was more interesting than she, she would be the first to know.

-KNM-

Much later on Shesharile 5 at the Harris Solo Jedi academy

The once big and mighty mansion, which had been built before the clone wars, had survived much by the time the clone wars ended. The owner was long gone or dead. The mansion was abandoned. Decades passed and as the Shesharile system government decided they wanted more Jedi activity in the Minos cluster, it became the home of the Jedi Master Xander Harris Solo and his wife Jaina Organa Solo, and a small school of Jedi was opened. No more than perhaps 5-8 new students and up to 3-9 other more advanced students were there to improve their combat skills.

With the Enterprise being overhauled and a new foot being cloned, Xander was limping along with the student as they ran around the yard, training. Most of them were amused by the tinny stuffed bird Master Xander still carried on his shoulder. (Jaina refused to let him get a parrot or a monkey like animal for real.) But the younger students were used to his bizarre sense of humor.

A short run later, the tall furry Whiphid K'Kruhk smiled as he saw Xander run up to them, limping from the loss of one of his foot. "Good day to you Master Alexander," the old Jedi Master said, trying to figure out what the stuffed bird on his shoulder was for.

Xander waved his hand. "Hi, Master K'Kruhk and…" He fell silent as he looked at the being K'Kruhk had brought with him.

It was bipedal, standing on two massive feet, a young Herglic, 195 cm tall, huge for its race and rather slim, only 200 cm wide. Its smooth hairless skin was so pale blue that it looked white as snow in the early sunlight, only a patch of black around the eye breaking the image of it being an albino.

Herglics were a wide spread species, but Xander had managed to never see one before.

"It's Moby Dick," Xander stuttered and it looked like one, even with a blowhole on top of its massive head. Its jaws opened in confusion, rendering it an even greater resemblance to a young sperm whale walking on land.

K'Kruhk was puzzled by the reaction. "Master Xander," he said, wondering what was going through the young man's head.

Inside Xander's head, –Must not make Captain Ahab jokes.- "Hi Master K'Kruhk. I'm sorry, I was tired and surprised to see a Herglic. I've never seen one before. It's an honor for me to get to know one of your species," he smiled at the young creature.

'Must be an example, cannot not insult guest,' Xander thought. "So let's start from the beginning and I'm sorry I was so surprised seeing the two of you here. So, what brings you here Master K'Kruhk and who is the young person beside you?"

"Holy Captain Ahab, Moby Dick is running lose," Lexa said in shock from behind him.

Xander whirled to face her. "Alexandra!" he yelled. "Say you're sorry and go back inside this instant!"

Lexa blinked and then blinked again. "He's wider than he's tall."

A blowing trumpet like sound came from the Herglic head. "At least I'm not soft and weak like humans," it said. It was insulted. Just because his species was wider than they were tall, and most races in the galaxy being smaller than they was a sour point among them.

Walking sideways in a tiny human building was only fun the first few times, then it grew old.

-KNM-

A short moment later (After Lexa had said she was sorry).

Moby-Dick, also known as Nobak, was a pleasant young man once you started to talk with him and unlike most Herglic, he wasn't angered that much over wide load jokes.

K'Kruhk explained. "We are here because Nobak's lightsaber skills need refining. Normal combat methods seem not to fit him," K'Kruhk said and looked Xander in the eye with a worried look. "I'm here for a second reason, but it can wait." K'Kruhk turned and watched his young student. Being a bigger creature than most others are, himself, he knew that lightsabers could be tricky to learn. He was lucky that Yoda had had much patience with him when he was young.

Xander nodded. "I can imagine. I can see some alternatives. Create a great-lightsaber. Your size would then make it a more effective weapon." He pulled up his lightsaber. "My lightsabers have different size as I find it a useful surprise." He activated the blade and it grew to full 2 meter length.  
"Now, you use a normal blade?"

The Herglic nodded. "Yes, 130 cm long, but my hilt is longer to fit my hands," Nobak said.

Xander said, "Right." He looked around and then reached out into the living room, levitating a Fri'ko plant in. He was going to let Nobak test his skill using his own lightsaber in its great blade form. The problem was that the Herglic hands were too big for him to use the existing hilt. The plant was going to fix that problem.

The Fri'ko looked like a brown and straight banana. Its outside was hard as a nut. Normally it was used to enrich the taste of food. Xander had another use of it. "Let's get out onto the training pad," he said as he walked, doing something with the fruit-nut-alien-plant.

He cut of the top, poked his lightsaber hilt inside and tied it steady with a piece of rope. Now his hilt was almost twice as long and many times as thick, about the size Nobak would need to even hold it in his huge hands. Then using the Force he activated it. "Here," he said as he handed over the great-blade to Nobak. "Show me the strong style," Xander said.

The Herglic started to wave around Xander's light-saber in its great sword form. Xander started to smile. In his hands it was clumsy whenever he used his lightsaber in its Great-lightsaber form. He used it more like a spear or a lance from his swoop than as a sword, but Nobak wielded it like a swordsman. A bit unused to the size and in desperate need of more training, but the moves were somewhat forced. Perhaps it was the sword's form, but he did not think so.  
K'Kruhk laughed. "You did it."

Nobak stopped moving. "You said alternatives?" he asked. This was great, but something still felt off.

Xander nodded. "A light staff. It's like a normal lightsaber, but the hilt is longer, up to a meter long. Sometimes the blade is shorter, making it more akin to a light-spear." He pulled up his light-dagger and grabbed one of the 150 long training staffs. Rona and Riley often worked out with those. He pushed the attachment on the bottom of the light-dagger, normally used to make his two blades into a double bladed weapon.

The dagger was now attached on the top of the staff. He activated the blade.

"This is the other alternative. Great for a big fighter who is a bit slow in his movements." He started to move around in long swings and stabs. "If you are in a tight pitched corridor, you could use it like this," he said, poking it forward, then moving it quickly back and forth, swinging it around in a number 8. "Do that and almost nothing can move past you. "

"They are a bit trickier to use than a normal lightsaber, but a great-blade, staff or spear would work for you."

K'Kruhk said, "If the blade is longer, 1 meter or so, that would be a light-staff, the same method of fighting as far as I know."

Xander shook his head. "It's different. You use more athletics and speed jumping with a light-staff. The lights-spear is poking, sticking and standing your ground. You use an adapted form of a mix of Makashi Form 2 and Niman Form 6 with a light-spear. It's a hybrid form for light-spear combat." He removed his light-dagger from the staff. "It's not safe letting it hang up there. The attachment is not that good on wood and I do not wish to see my Shoto flying around, it could poke an eye out."

Nobak blinked. "Shoto?" he asked.

K'Kruhk answered. "Shoto is another word for light-dagger. How do you use a light-staff then?" he asked Xander.

"A hybrid between Shii-Cho form 1 and Soresu. It is the form the staff is best in. A staff blade is longer than the spear. Normally it has a shorter hilt or the hilt is the same length as the length of the blade. Of course all forms could be used, but those two are best. The light-spear is a funny weapon. Its blade is short and the hilt is longer, often 2-4 times as long as the blade. Both the spear and the staff give you great range in an attack, but are a bit more difficult in defense until you master it. They are not weapons you start using just because they look cool. It's hour after hour of hard training to master a spear or staff. The light-spear, its greatest users in history were tiny and petite, but fast, or the users were big and strong, but slow." He whirled the staff in his hand. "But the staff, o my o my. It's a weapon that serves those who are big, strong and flexible in their movements." He let the staff dance around his body from one hand to the other.

He did some mock attacks to the front and back, bending his knees as he let the staff form a spinning defense around his body. "And those that are small, weak and flexible in their movements. The staff services those who have a flexible body which are ready and able to bend."

He took a deep breath. That was not easy. "The staff is slightly better at slashing and cutting than the spear. Its defense, once you master it, is superior, but the spears ability to attack is far greater than a staff." He took another deep breath. "Both the spear and the staff take more training to learn how to use than what a lightsaber would, but once mastered, they are in some areas superior than the lightsaber."

K'Kruhk looked impressed. "I see you have been training," he said.

Xander shrugged. "To be a teacher, one must uncover the secret of learning," He grinned. "And that was the wise word for today."

Nobak mumbled. "Light-spear or a great-lightsaber?" He frowned a bit and then went on. "One question. Why do you have a child's toy, a stuffed bird, on your shoulder?"

Xander laughed. "Let me tell you about a myth on my home world," he said as he started to tell the big guy about pirates and parrots.

Jaina turned to K'Kruhk. "Hi K'Kruhk. How long are you going to be on planet?"

K'Kruhk did his best non hostile smile. He had a mouth big enough for Jaina to put her head inside, so that was something of a challenge. "Two days, no more. I know the rules so I'm ready to help where I can."

Jaina shook her head. "That rule is for new advanced students, you're a guest. So tell me, when is the next Masters' meeting? I was informed that because of the risk some of us are only going to be there holographicly."

The two walked in silence for a bit as they could hear the young whale laughing in front of them.

K'Kruhk nodded. "I'm here for two reasons. One is the student Nobak, who Luke wanted to have some special instruction. Nobak is a Jedi, but the lightsaber seemed wrong for him," he explained.

Jaina smiled. "So Uncle Luke sends him to somebody who's already become a master in lightsabers," she said with a smile. Luke could still defeat Xander in lightsaber combat, but it was coming closer, But a Jedi did not fight with the lightsaber alone. Force powers of many types, mind control, there were many other levels of battle that could be used in a real combat. Using that type of combat Luke could make a gooey slime out of them all.

Jaina let go off her worship of her Uncle. Besides she had a growing suspicion that Xander would soon be his equal. "So, what is the other reason, Master K'Kruhk?"

K'Kruhk answered. "Our spies have found your friend, the Beast. Lady Lumiya has a new elite team of assassins and he is the team leader." He could see that  
Jaina's face darkened in anger and then calmed. "Each of them is a former enemy of Lumiya turned by Beast into a vampire."

Jaina nodded. "We were so close to catching him, but he always managed to trick us. There was always something coming up, guiding us the wrong way." She felt so much guilt for that.

K'Kruhk laughed at her. "You are a fool if you feel guilty. The light side has gained mighty fighters to protect it in the Force guardians. Now Beast and his creatures are here, the dark side itself was protecting it."

He looked at her. "Do you really believe that you are so strong and so wise that the darks side itself is unable to fool you?"

This time it was not the gentle old K'Kruhk that spoke. This was the mighty old warrior who had survived the destruction of the old Jedi order, the one who survived the Clone Wars and being left for dead stranded on an alien world for decades with no way to get off the planet. "Well, do you believe so much in yourself that you are unable to forgive yourself?" He glared down at Jaina.

She swallowed. "You are right," she said, hanging her head. "It's just so frustrating." With one of his stumpy clawed fingers under her jaw, he lifted gently and softly her head up so he could see her face to face.

"In all things there is a balance Jaina, life and death, light and dark. The Guardians, like the Jedi, are protectors of the light. The dark side Jedi and the Sith are champions of destruction and death and so are the vampires now." K'Kruhk said.

He gave her a thin smile. "But those on the darkside are not loyal to anybody. Eventually the Sith will turn on the vampires and they will be destroyed." He nodded; he had foreseen it. The next time the balance against the Guardians would be a dark guardian.

He did not know when it would happen, but it would be within his life time. He was already over 100 years old and most male Whiphid lived no longer then perhaps 200 years, then they died in a hunting accident. Females often lived twice that long, but they did not hunt big monsters for fun.

Meanwhile the Vampire sounded like a good hunting sport.

Jaina smiled. "Thanks. Sometimes it IS a burden to be so young and carry as much responsibility as Xander and I do. I'm only 19 , soon 20. Xander seems a natural in doing this." She watched below, where the 3 youngest students were playing. (10years old, 12 years old, 13 years old)

What if one of the students would turn to the darkside? Sure, other Jedi were here and helped them, Biije, the friendly and peaceful Bith Jedi, Jaden Korr, another of Kyle's trained Jedi, Lowbacka, another of their teachers and friends, Jedi knight Fable Astin and her husband Jaalib Brandl.

Those two were interesting. Jaalib was trained by his father, a Dark Jedi, and trained to be an Imperial Inquisitor and a Dark Jedi, a man who was more interested in the art of acting and theater, than the power of the Force. Jaalib had followed into his father's footsteps from acting and was then forced to become an Imperial Inquisitor and Dark Jedi, except he had no love for the Dark side. After Endor, his future wife Fable Astin had saved him from the agents of the Empire and from his own father, who was by then a renegade warlord.

Jaina liked Jaalib. His skill with a lightsaber was extremely good, but he is an actor first, last and always. Teaching about the Force was something he did as little as possible unless it was teaching the students about acting.

Anakin almost lived here as much as he could. He still wasn't a Jedi Knight, even as he was offered a chance to take the trail. But he had the wisdom to say,"No, I'm too young." Something that made the Jedi Master smile and declared he had already proven himself as a knight, but that the title could wait. Anakin was after all only 15, soon to be 16. Jacen was often here for a visit as well.

Now there were always Jedi here, even when Xander and she were gone on a mission and they had a theater club also. She smiled as she could see the towering gestalt of Darth Vader fight a tiny student apparently dressed as Luke Skywalker. Biije's Jedi-history lessons were often forgotten, they were too  
boring, but nobody forgot any of the Jedi-history lessons Jaalib gave.

K'Kruhk chuckled. "Now that is a funny sight," he said. "That's Jaalib, correct?" he asked.

Jaina nodded. "He is an interesting character. You should see his performance in the Uhl Eharl Khoehng." It was a classic story about a prince fearing the dark lord Uhl Eharl Khoehng in the forest, then turned mad by the power the dark lord had.

It was almost mirrored by his own life. What they told nobody was, that once performing the play, his own father and enemy, a person supposedly dead, had made a truce with Jaalib just so that HE could play the part of the dark lord. When that performance was over and Jaalib was bowing before the throne as the dark lord demanded him to worship him and all will be yours, the spectators started to cry.

K'Kruhk nodded, "I heard he made a magnificent performance. The holo recording from Adarlon gave me shivers up my spine. It was like seeing a young Jedi driven mad and then surrendering to a real dark lord." Whoever the unknown actor playing the role of the Uhl Eharl Khoehng was, he was a genius.

Jaina blushed, "Um. Well, it was a onetime deal." Aldric Brandl was a wanted man and had vanished afterwards and from what they understood, he had returned to his real passion of acting. Being a warlord was apparently boring, so he was working as a Dark lord of acting now, in a theater far away.

Xander, hearing that, started giggling like crazy and stuttered something about the Phantom of the Opera. A tale he had to explain to both Jaalib and Aldric, who were both fascinated by it, but frustrated at Xander's lack of information in the details.

-KNM-

Later in the day

"K'Kruhk, I want to ask a favor of you." Xander said, looking at the hairy Jedi Master.

K'Kruhk blinked. "What might that be?" he asked.

Xander pointed down. "See that girl? She is powerful in the Force. She is from the same reality I come from and she needs a wise and personal teacher to help her learn the basics and perhaps more. It cannot be me, I am too much like family to her."

K'Kruhk nodded. "I see. Well, I can help you there. What is my new student's name?" he asked.

"Willow, would you please come over here?" Xander called to her. The girl rushed over. He could now see that she must be about Xander's age, around 21.

"Hi, I'm Willow." Then she asked, "Xander, who is he?"

Xander smiled. "I said I would find you a Master that knows more about the Force than I do. A Master who's trained Jedi in the Force for even longer then Luke has. Meet Jedi Master K'Kruhk and don't be afraid, he's a friendly guy."

Willow looked up and up and up, into a face full of brown hair and a conical straw hat on the top. A mouth bigger than her head, full of teeth and two gigantic fangs, it looked like the love child between a bear and a walrus and it was smiling, showing of his teeth and tusk.

"eeep" What more could she say?

Unknown to them a small fleet of military transports were moving towards them.

-KNM-

Four days later

Snuggling up was one of his favorite pass time activities. Snuggling between Danni and Jaina made life good, but sadly the time for such things was over for the morning. Students, friends and family waited for them.

He had good news that morning. His replacement foot was growing fine inside a clone vat. Soon he would have a new left foot. He still felt something was off though. A feeling he had not felt in a long time, not since the BEAST. He was back.

"RONA, CHLOE, BUFFY," he rushed around the place, opening each door just for a short order. "Move it."

The girls, still groggy from being woken up so early, walked out of their rooms.

Buffy growled at him. "I'm going to kill you Xander. What is it?"

Xander hardly took notice of the threat. "The Beast. He's back. I feel vampires, many of them, but not where they are." He was worried. Something was really wrong. Then suddenly a thought hit him and it all made sense, bombs. They had sneaked explosives inside of the building. "Jaina, Danni. Get the kids and run out. It's a trap."

For a moment the others were silent, processing the sudden inrush of information and then they started to move. Xander was standing still, using his skills in mind talking to wake up the other Jedi. Then he reached out and searched the building for anything that felt wrong. Bombs were almost impossible to detect. Like a piece of rock, you could detect its existence with the Force, but not that it was a rock. It could be any kind of hard object, even just hard packed earth, unless you focused specifically on that single object.

There where strange new objects, which had a strange feeling around them, like they had been held in the arms of a darksider, scattered about the building.  
He opened his eyes. They were remote controlled or on a timer, perhaps both. "Buffy, tell Jaina to take the kids down through the boat house. If they see us evacuate, they will detonate the bombs, hurry."

Buffy rushed away.

"Jaalib and Fable, why don't the two of you create a distraction to amuse our enemies?" Xander said to the girls. It was good that many of the other Jedi had left the planet with most of the students on a student trip to Shesharile 6, the twin planet to Shesharile 5, and its biggest city, where the solar system's head court of law had its headquarter. That was also the reason for the current low level of security at the academy right now. There were only two younger students and five more skilled ones still there. Jaalib, Fable and Jaina were the ones left of the more advanced Jedi, but t was no secret that the rest would return around lunch that day.

That must be when the bomber was planning to destroy the building, unless they already had a separate trap in place for the other students and teachers.

Jaalib nodded. "The balcony. Fable, my love, I am afraid I have to start an argument with you. Do try to keep up with my unfair anger and judgmental ways," he grinned. Fable rolled her eyes at the antics of her husband. If anything, he would create one hell of a show.

A short moment later, the two were arguing, even fighting, outside, in front of anybody who was watching the house. Jaalib seemed, for anyone to see, like nothing less than a failed drunken bastard, as he yelled and screamed at his wife.

Xander shivered. That man's acting skills were scary.

At a distance: "Any movement inside?" Vampire 1 asked. "No, but listen to this argument," vampire2 said as he let the other in the group listen in on the yelling. They used long distance microphones because they did not want the Jedi to discover them before the right time.

Silently cloaking the students, Jaina moved them as a group into the boathouse under what Willow and Dawn amusedly called the X-mansion, the home of the X-Jedi. She had no idea what that meant, but it seemed to amuse her husband to no end.

As she passed down to the boathouse and the secret escape way that they had installed there, she send Xander a message. "It's time."

Above in his room Xander cloaked, grabbed Rona and Buffy by the shoulder and looked at Chloe. "Chloe, tell the other to give us five minutes. Then it's your time to evacuate." Then he vanished down the stairs. As he passed the arguing Jaalib and Fable, he slipped Jaalib a note. "Go indoors, be prepared."

Then the three vanished out into the early morning light.

Somehow, the note vanished from Jaalib's hand and fell into Fable's hand as she fell down from a blow that Jaalib had apparently struck her. Fable saw his nodding and the tensing of his shoulders and prepared herself in the last second. She moved as the blow came at her, but instead of dodging, she followed the movement of his hand so closely that his knuckles almost touched her skin.

Curling in to a ball, she read the note Jaalib had smuggled into her hand. "Go indoors, be prepared," it read. "You call yourself a man? You hit like a butterfly," she yelled out. She was forcing herself to cry, before she stormed inside, hiding her eyes. Acting was not a similar passion for Fable as it was for Jaalib, but it was a well loved hobby.

Outside it looked like Jaalib was trembling with anger, but hidden by his hair as he hung his head down like a man shamed, he was smiling with pride. She might not believe it, but what an actor she could have been. With her by his side, they would rule the theaters. She would be the queen of the show, if he could just trick her into becoming a real actor.

For a short moment, he considered what emotion he should show now. He could choose anger, shame, regret or maybe just denial. Of course, he was playing an abusive and drunk husband. Yes, drunk sounded fun. Such a person always put the blame on others. He hid his grin. This time it really was the vampires and Xander's fault that they argued. "Who the Sith do you think you are? Well, answer me you stupid damned whore!" he raged inside.  
Far away, the vampires watched in awe. That was one hell of a show. Angry beings were always fun to watch. Unseen, Xander guided by Rona and Buffy, had found the vampires.

What he saw made him an unhappy Jedi indeed.

They had armed themselves with heavy guns and armor and had a small army of soldiers waiting further away. He believed there were around 50 vampires and perhaps another 20 soldiers, each armed with anti Jedi weapons. These people were not out to mess around.

Concussion rifles, ion-beamers, even a stun weapon the lightsaber did not work on, it just slightly bent the rays without deflecting or stopping it. They also had light repeater rifles. They were bigger then a carbine and were able to send a rain of deadly blaster bolts. It was a weapon which demanded a strong back to use.

What were worse were the cameras and passive sensors they were using to monitor the mansion and the bombs. The bombs were everywhere. Beast must have worked patiently for weeks to do this. 'Who or what could have made him that patient?' Xander asked himself.

"Oh. What are they waiting for?" Buffy asked, remembering that she was invisible and unheard inside the cloak.

"For the others to return," Xander said, looking around. The moment Jaalib and the others who could fight evacuated the normal way and not by the escape route, the enemy would activate the explosives.

Then they saw their old friend the Beast, although this was actually the first time Xander saw him face to face. He would always remember the face from the 3D picture he had seen. He looked almost completely human except for the large pair of sunglasses that hid the sulfur yellow glowing eyes and the disfigured forehead. Except for that, he looked just like he did during his human life. An accountant, a man that worked to help others plan their economy, a master in planning and handling economical affairs, now turned into the Beast. He even adopted the name Beast for his own use. It said it all and behind him was someone even worse.

Lady Lumiya.

Xander pulled the girls away. "We have to move or she will feel our presence." He swore again. If only he or others he cloaked could attack while cloaked, but no, it was impossible. Like a stupid writer's plot made up just to make life more dangerous. Xander frowned a bit. If his life were a written book, he would have words to say to the writers if he ever caught them.

He grinned. The writers would have something more interesting to write about soon anyway. "We have to take out the bomb master control now."

They moved to the computer controlling the bombs and uncloaked.

Rona quickly pushed the disarm button.

Click, hiss. Click, hiss. Xander's lightsabers activated. "Do you feel lucky suckers? Do you?"

"The bombs are secured," Rona said.

Click, Hiss "Fear my light-stick," Buffy roared as she attacked.

A massive blink from all around. "It's a lightsaber!" Xander, Rona, Dark Lady Lumiya and most of the vampires yelled angrily in unison.

Buffy shrugged. "D'hoo. Looks like a stick to me," she said, waving it around, slicing vampires as fast as she could.

Suddenly the Beast roared, "STOP NOW," using his strongest mental attack.

Buffy blinked, shaking her head to get the order out of there.

"If you move, I destroy the house," Beast said in a reasonable voice.

Rona grinned at that. "With what?" she asked, holding the master detonator computer up.

Lady Lumiya smiled. "With the real detonator, little girl," she said, holding a smaller computer activation device up. For a tiny moment she seemed to consider it and then she pushed the button. "Oops."

Xander heart turned cold as a wave of hot air pushed by them, followed by numerous explosions. Turning around he could see the old mansion explode in pillars of fire that consumed everything around them. The yard in front exploded, fragmentation mines send splinters all around them. The old landing platform crackled as an aimed thermal box exploded.

(Thermal box = Box holding inside 5-100 thermal detonators and making them explode together at the same time)

With the power of 15 Thermal detonators, the platform turned into a burning crater as the thermal box exploded.

Part of the swimming pool suddenly vanished as a rockslide appeared under it, sending it gliding down into the sea.

Lady Lumiya activated her light-whip. "Kill them now," she ordered her assassins. She herself backed away now that the fight would start.

This time Xander was not holding back. Sending out two great waves of Force push, he cleared the area like a tsunami around them in a half circle. Then he attacked. Using a kinetic punch he crushed part of a vampires head.

Then the real fight started.

Dancing in close combat, his missing left foot was hurting right now. Moving on his beg leg was not fun. Slash, cut, dodge, stab, he twisted inside their guard. He even cut the vampire he had downed asunder with no mercy asked no mercy given. Then he sent a rain of stone dirt like missiles on enemies further away.

Behind him, Buffy and Rona opened fire with their guns.

Rona was using her lightsaber in her right hand and the shield gauntlet and penetrator pistol in the other. Buffy aimed for more destruction as she waved her shield gauntlet and thundered heavy blaster pistol in her left hand. In her right hand, she waved her "light-stick" around.

Surrounded by the creepy worm filled blood of dead vampires, they saw it slowly turning to slime.

A roar of anger came as the Beast watched them kill with no mercy or no hindrance. "Put down your guns, fools. The Force pikes, get in close." That close with the Jedi and the Force Guardians his men were hitting each other.

A group of vampires attacked fast with their Force pikes. The top of the pike was glowing as its deadly energy field could parry even a lightsaber. Nine vampires attacked Xander in one single attack. He was grateful. Had there been five or less, they could have coordinated and attacked like a team, but as it was, they were getting in each other's way.

Cut, slash, stab, dodge, upper, slash.

Sai-Cha, the beheading move, Sai-Tok, cutting the opponent in half, and the stabbing Shiak, normally in a leg or arm, but today the heart or brain was the target. Constantly spinning around, not giving them a chance to know who or on which side he would attack. All the time he dodged and side stepped their attacks.

Around him, the nine enemies turned to only four. Now they could turn more dangerous if they were coordinated, but now they were also scared, almost paralyzed in fear of him.

In one move, he flipped his sabers size from 1.3 m to 2 meters and using a Force push he smashed two away as he used the Shun move, a 360-degree turn, slashing out at the two standing vampire's one on each side. With a Sai-Cha cut, each of his two light-blades moved, forming a green and yellow disk with him in the center.

The great blade worked like a charm, wounding the vampires standing outside his circle of death.

He could not see it, but the feeling was clear. He Force jumped at the last second as a rain of concussion blasts created a three-meter wide hole where he had just been standing. The Force telekinetic was his friend. He made one of the vampires using the concussion rifle to turn it at his friends, then Xander used telekinetic to make him pull the trigger. At that close range, it was as if a hand grenade had exploded.

A group of four vampires and soldiers suddenly died or screamed, because of the wounds their own weapons gave them.

Landing with only one good leg was difficult, but he managed. Seeing Buffy in trouble, he cast his Shoto away, using the Force throw technique at another group soldiers with guns, where it suddenly found arms and legs. Missing a head, he pulled the Shoto back. They were no longer aiming at Buffy.

He looked at Rona. She moved the right way, constantly keeping an enemy between herself and those of the enemy with long distance weapons.

"What Beast, afraid to fight?" he mocked the leader.

"Let's go, we will crush him together," Lady Lumiya said.

Xander sighed. "I said Beast, not Sith, but on the other hand, it's an easy mistake to make if you've seen yourself in the mirror, my lady."

Lumiya froze in anger. Nobody mocked her face. Sure, most of her face was hidden behind the cybernetics, thanks to the face burn Luke gave her, but he dared to mock her? "You mock me?"

Xander shrugged. "If you need to ask that question, the reason I mock you is obvious," he said, moving into a combat technique called Dun-Möch. Around him, broken body parts, mostly heads, and broken blasters started to rain down on Lumiya.

Dun-Möch was two parts kinetic combat and one part mental, were you used words to mock your opponent, to anger and confuse them. Normally it was used by the Sith, but Xander didn't care about fine print like that. The Sith had less control over their emotions than the Jedi had, which made Dun-Mösh a far more deadly way of fighting for both of them and it worked.

A massive Force wave emanated from Lumiya, crashing and crushing anybody standing near her and Xander was far too close. The Beast screamed in terror as the wave of kinetic energy coming from his dark mistress, crushed his body. A circle of death formed around the Dark Lady. None of her soldiers standing too close to her survived.

Xander parried the attack as fast as he could. He used his own Force push to shield him, Buffy and Rona. "She is mine, take the soldiers and vampires. Help is nearby." Xander said to the others. He felt that Jaalib, Biiju and the other Jedi were helping them from a distance.

The help of the pacifist Bith was especially useful right now. It would mean the difference between life and death.

As Lumiya lifted her Force whip, Xander continued his attack.

"Uoo, that was stinky. Next time you let out gas, use the toilet. Look at all those guys dead from your explosive gas problem," he whined.

She attacked, screaming in rage and moving at a speed almost 8 times that of a normal human.

The whip rained down on him, cutting right through vampires and loyal soldiers on its way to Xander. Xander dodged the first glowing coils of the whip and parried some with his Shoto; they coiled around his blade, sparkling with energy as they trapped the light-dagger.

With one swift move, he cut down hard with his lightsaber, improving the cutting ability with the Force and so cutting off a part of the whip.  
Xander continued his attack. "No, means no. Besides you are far too ugly to do a dominatrix. If you're lucky, perhaps a Hutt or and Gamorean might find you attractive."

Lumiya tried to gather her senses. "You pitiful Jedi, I have killed your friends and your wife and all you can do is stand here and try to be funny. I wonder what sweet soon to be dead Jaina said after the wedding? Did she look down your pants and say: Is that all?" She grinned and then stopped grinning.

"'That's all.' I have to remember that line," Xander said. "Sorry, but your incompetence is showing. We knew about you and the house was empty," he said, stretching the truth a little. Nobak, Fable and her husband Jaalib could have been inside or out in the yard as it exploded. He didn't know for sure. Jaina, Biije, Lowbacka, Mom, Dad and the younger children should be safe and the rest weren't back from their trip yet. He could also feel that Jaalib was alive. He just hoped the man had not lost his wife Fable. If that had happened, Lumiya would soon face the anger of a dark Jedi.

Lumiya growled in frustration. "Little Jedi, I'm going to show you the meaning of pain."

Xander shrugged. "Like your son Hakon tried to? I had quite fun destroying your famous weapon." The two walked around in a circle, trying to find each other's weak points.

Lumiya sneered. "You lie. He was killed by Kyle Katarn," she said. The smile on Xander's face was as evil as on any Sith's face. "Do you really believe I could let someone that interfered with my honeymoon live? Or die by another man's hand?"

He could see it now. She was confused, she did not understand if he was a lightsider or darksider.

Xander attacked. "Now join your son, mom," he said and moved in. Quickly catching more of the whip coils, he slashed them off, But Lumiya was not fooled that much, she twitched her hand and the light-whip danced around in the air, slashing, cutting and even stabbing out at Xander.  
He dodged and felt an annoying feeling in his left foot. The wooden leg he used had been cut off.

"Ever heard of cybernetics? If you had, perhaps that would not have happened." Lumiya said sarcastically.

With a rather crooked stand Xander stood up, one foot shorter on the left side. "Ever heard of cloning body parts? It takes longer, but no cybernetics needed. But then, being ugly and stupid seems to be a family trait in your case."

On the side Buffy and Rona were hiding from the raging battle in the center. Both Xander and Lumiya were using telekinetic Force. Earth, stones, everything around them was moving and Lumiya's whip made it impossible for them to move close.

"Who is that and how dangerous is she?" Buffy asked.

"That is the Dark Lady Lumiya. I know that Luke Skywalker said, if you see her, run, about her," Rona answered.

"Um, Luke? That's the guy who kicked Xander's ass, right?" Buffy asked again.

Rona nodded. "Yeah," she grinned. "But then Luke has never seen Xander fight to protect his friends. I just wonder why he keeps insulting her."

"For distraction, hey look more vampires over there," Buffy said and then rushed over, Lumiya and Xander forgotten for the moment. Vampires were always a good distraction.

Rona rushed after her. She could see the suckers were planning to attack Xander in the back and there were too many vampires and soldiers for them to fight. As she rushed over she froze. There standing at a distance were four vampires aiming their guns at both her and Buffy. They were just pushing the trigger; she was dead.

Then from nowhere a dark shape, hidden by a cloak, appeared like a phantom.

"Fear not young maiden. We will watch your back," Jaalib said as he used the Force to push the weapons away. Being a Jedi and an actor, he had to make an entrance. He was a Jedi, but the actor bit was the most important part to him.

Rona sighed in relief as she joined Buffy in the fight.

Jaalib smiled thinly as he looked at the four soldiers. They paled seeing his face. The left side was nothing, but burned and scared tissue, dripping with blood.  
"The Phantom of the Force is here, at your side, fair maiden," he said and then attacked.

Fable rolled her eyes. Her crazy husband had saved her. That was the true action of any husband or hero and now he had more wounds than she had. Some fractured ribs, a broken right arm and some burns on her back. No problem, she could collapse in pain later. She had to get Jaalib to treatment, the stupid asshole.

As the last of the four soldiers fell down dead Jaalib looked up "O fair sun, even as a walker of the shadow lands I will miss you." He frowned, wishing he could remember some cooler words for his death scene. Then he collapsed from his own wounds.

Fable stared at her husband. "Arrgh. Why collapse now?" More vampires and soldiers were coming. What are they doing, cloning them?

Then that group stopped.

Biije the pacifist stood in front of them. "Let us talk," he said, wave after wave of Mind-control scrambling their minds. "You do not truly wish to serve a Dark Lord or Lady. Do you?" He really did not like getting this close to the enemy, but Jaalib and Fable being in danger forced his hand.

The humans quickly agreed with his words.

Biije smiled. "Why do you not find a transport out of here, get married and be happy. Just run away." They agreed and rushed away. He was relieved.  
Biije quickly dodged the attack from the vampires. It was times like these that his mental disorder was frustrating. He was mentally and physically unable to kill another sentient creature, even to save the life of a friend or his own life. He was unable to kill, but he could distract them. Suddenly, hundreds of Biije surrounded the vampires, each armed with a lightsaber and each looking like they would attack any moment. Then he pushed the idea in their head that they would die unless they escaped.

They rushed away.

Biije was tired. Normally vampires were not that hard to manipulate and he was an expert at manipulation. Sneakily he had followed Xander, Rona and Buffy under his own cloak and kept the soldiers and vampires distracted as Xander and gang started to fight them. As the vampires were still confused, he quickly hurried over to move his friends Jaalib and Fable away. Help would come soon. Biije sighed. He just hoped the young man would stay alive until he was at a safe distance to help him keep himself alive. It was difficult to use his power of illusion and distraction in close combat and being unable to fight, his only way of helping was to distract from a distance or carry his wounded friends away from the combat zone.

The young Nobak was a Jedi and unlike the others, his thick Herglic skin survived the burns with no problems. He activated his light-spear. It wasn't a real one, just his old lightsaber on top of a staff that could hold it in place, but it was an improvement. The spear danced around the big guy, as he moved slowly forward. Stab in and out, slash, Force push, Telekinetic attack rocked and crashed down on the enemy. Force jump and suddenly a gigantic shadow fell over the vampires and they soon looked like Moby-Dick himself had landed on them.

Nobak was not fast, but as long as he could walk, no enemy would stand in his way. He watched Master Biije run away while carrying the two wounded and he was impressed by the courage of Biije who was physically unable to hurt others. With no ability to fight for himself, he walked straight into the heat of combat to save Master Jaalib and Fable.

That was true courage.

-KNM-

Meanwhile

"Can I ask you a question? I'm kind of afraid that rain might make my star-ship rust. So, what kind of rust oil do you use on your own skin?" Xander asked as he parried yet another attack. This time Lady Lumiya was far too fast for him as he tried to trap her light-whip between his two blades. She rushed out with the Force, sending a solid and massive Force push into Xander's body.

It was like being hit by a four-ton heavy paperweight. Xander tried to defect it with a desperate Force push. He succeeded in surviving.

His outer armored breastplate cracked asunder like a piece of glass, but the inner flexible armor was not touched as he was crashed back into the ground and rolled around for four or five meters before coming to a full stop.

Lumiya waved her hand as she sent his lightsabers flying. "Now, BOY, you are going to gurgle!" she said just as something hit her hard in the gut.  
On an unsteady foot, Xander stood up. "Nice idea. Focusing you Force push," he looked up in the sky; his two hilts were still flying. "But I'm a fast learner." Reaching out with the Force he caught them, forcing both to return to him like boomerangs.

He attacked faster than a greased lightning.

Lumiya stood up. She did manage to parry that attack. "You might learn fast, but you are too tired to fight me," she growled out. Using the Force and her own light-whip, she slashed out again, sending the young Jedi Master down. This time he was unable to stand. His wounds and cracked bones held him down and she gave him no time to heal.

"Unable to fight, you will die like a beggar on your knees," she said, lifting her light-whip to give him the cut of doom.

"He doesn't need to fight anymore." Jaina said, her dark armor glittering under the light from her lightsaber. "That's my man, bitch, and you are going down," she growled as rocks and broken armor lifted up and attacked Lumiya.

The dark Lady ignored it as she easily parried it with her mind. Behind the two female fighters Xander collapsed. Nobak grabbed him in one hand and put him over his shoulder before moving away to a safe distance.

Lumiya and Jaina were fighting on a way too powerful a level for him to keep up. He hoped Jaina would win or soon it would be his turn to fight.

-KNM-

On the sidelines: "O that's one cool comment." Dawn said.

Lexa nodded. "Yea, my brother has good taste in girls. Now be quiet." She focused her own lesser PSI powers.

She had Kinetic-hold, Kinetic shield, Vibration sense and was training in Telekinetic and Enhanced move. So far Telekinetic came much more easily to her than enhanced move. Hold was for close combat; she would have to physically touch them. Kinetic shield was self-defense, worthless against energy weapons, but extremely useful against Force push.

Vibration sense was a second sight power that used her kinetic abilities to sense the area around her. Her Enhanced move was still too slow to use in combat. With Telekinetic move she could perhaps lift a shoe if she had luck. Time to be sneaky, then. Lexa frowned; time to test her toy weapon.

-KNM-

As Jaina attacked, she slashed, parried, cut, stabbed and used the Force to lash out against the Dark Lady. The Dark Lady's force whip was a formidable weapon. It was like a constantly moving fence of death, impossible to breach, unless you manage to destroy it completely.

Click, Hiss. Jaina activated her back up weapon, a Shoto.

Holding two weapons, one a lightsaber and the other a shorter lightdagger, she attacked. Remembering what both Luke and Xander had said about fighting against a whip. Trap the coils of the whip with one blade and cut of the coil with the free blade.

Lumiya's whip had fifteen or more glowing coils dancing around, cutting everything it could.

On the side, Lexa focused her own powers. They were weak compared to the Jedi, but just strong enough for what she had in mind.

The light-whip had the same weakness as a lightsaber. Cortosis mineral would short-circuit it and she had a tiny short rope made from cortosis fibers. The maybe 30 cm long rope started to fly away from her hand. On each side of the rope, she had tied a steel ball bearing, making a tiny bola. She grabbed it again and then she threw it as fast as she could, using her telekinetic power to guide its path. She had to hit the whip near the hilt, that way all fifteen coils would turn off.

Lumiya let the Force guide her as she battled Jaina, seeking and intercepting any Force attack or any attack by energy weapons while making Force attacks against Jaina. It was clear that Jaina was good, even great, but that the tired Lumiya was still pushing her slowly, grinding her down. Lumiya's experience and skills were superior to Jaina's.

As she dodged a second attack, Jaina frowned. The bitch was good, but she would not fail. Slamming her hand in the ground, she created a Force wave right into the ground, aiming it at Lumiya. A tidal wave of earth moved towards Lumiya. Her Force push had no effect in shielding her against this attack. If she didn't want to become buried alive, there was only one-way out.

She Force jumped.

As she was flying through the air, she saw her mistake. Like a rocket, Jaina was coming towards her, and unlike the lightsaber, waving a Force whip around in the air wasn't very effective. You needed a firm balance to use it.

Lumiya desperately pushed with a Force push, but Jaina battered it aside like nothing, diving down with two blades in attack position. Jaina slashed with her lightsaber and stabbed with her light-dagger.

Lumiya parried the light-dagger with her light-whip. The sudden movements made her lose her balance in the air. Some acrobatic and Force skills would be needed unless she wanted to land on her head. As she was spinning around to correct herself, she felt something slashing around her armor, ripping away mandalorian steel and burning her skin under it.

Jaina landed softly on the ground like a cat.

Lumiya landed on her armored head, bouncing twice before rolling around and standing up. She was pissed off and part of her breastplate on the right side had been cut off.

Then she attacked, wave after wave of attack, pushing Jaina back. The whip hit her repeatedly; she parried as fast as she could, but an upper swing of the whip slashed through her defense and sent her Shoto blade flying away in one direction and Jaina herself in the other.

Lexa was a Psionic, her powers where not from the Force. It was a power she had inside of her. She would tire out much faster than a Jedi. On the other hand, she only had to worry about the darkness in her own soul. No dark side would tempt her.

Jaina landed on her feet. Her armor was burned but working. She gripped the lightsaber in the classic Form 3. The Soresu her favorite form, the defensive form.

Lumiya attacked again, but this time Jaina was ready, parrying with both the Force and the lightsaber. She did her best to make the Soresu shield invincible. It was not.

Backing away, she desperately tried to find an opening, any opening.

Unless Lumiya was searching for a psionic attack, she would not sense Lexa's attack until it was too late. Lexa smiled. She could help.  
The tiny bola flew straight and true from Lexa's hand as Lumiya lifted the whip to take another swing against Jaina's circle of defense. It tied itself around the whip, short-circuiting it.

As the energy whip sparked and the energy died, Jaina dived right through its now useless coils with a piercing stab aimed at the cybernetic Dark Lady. Lumiya was not a Dark Lady without a reason. She used the Force to push herself out of harm's way, but a burning feeling in her shoulder told her she was too late. Jaina twisted the blade around, burning one lung and cutting of half the shoulder on the right side.

Lumiya screamed as she used a Force wave against Jaina. The massive wave crashed in and Jaina was doing all she could to defend herself. It worked, but Lumiya was up and running now, and talking into a communication device.

Jaina frowned and then she sensed it in the Force. She was calling for close air support. An attacking starship was on its way. "Get out of here now!" she yelled, seeing Nobak carrying Xander in his hand and running already. In the big wide hands of Nobak Xander looked like a four or five year old child.

Beside them, she could see Dawn and Lexa. The two girls were running as fast as possible. Then Biije appeared from nowhere, his small and gentle, but surprising strong hand grabbing Dawn and Lexa as he speeded away, carrying them to safety. They had just managed to doge behind the crater in front of the ruined mansion when they attacked, four skip-ray blast boats. Small 25 meter long over powered attack ships were bombing everything moving.

Sitting down, Jaina took a deep breath. Why had nobody from the planet defense reacted? She felt those on the trip were safe and on their way home. Communications seem to be out. The big gas giant Shesharile had a natural jamming ability on the hyper-frequencies, hyper-radio and boosted signals used. So on Shesharile 5 and Shesharile 6 they depended on communication towers and satellites to make sure the hyper-boosted signals arrived.

Xander had lots of fun when he discovered that smuggler radio or electromagnetic unboosted signals had no problem because of the gas giant. Of course, mountains and other natural objects could interfere with that type of radio and nobody used primitive equipment like that anymore, except for a small number of smugglers and military Special Forces. (The same type of radio we use on Earth. No hyper-boosted signals.)

If she had been the Dark Lady, sabotaging of the communication towers would have been her first target. A jamming circuit or program installed in the towers could be used to silence all communicators on the twin planets.

-KNM-

29 hours later

The ruin of the once magnificent mansion was still smoking as the government officials landed.

As they walked up the walkway, they heard a strange alien song. A string instrument and some kind of flute was playing, with two male voices were singing softly, but with such clear voices that the song was quite audible from far away.

-KNM-Start lyric-KNM-

You know a dream is like a river. Ever changing as it flows and a dreamer is just a vessel, which must follow where it goes. Trying to learn from what is behind you 

-KNM-End lyric-KNM-

As the chief of staff and security guards walked up to the mansion, followed by officer Crunch, they could see the Jedi students and their teachers gathered around an open fire. The song was coming from among them.

-KNM-Start lyric-KNM-

and never knowing what's in store, Make each day a constant battle. Just to stay between the shores and

-KNM-End lyric-KNM-

Coming closer they could see Doctor Harris and Jedi Master Harris sitting side by side, each singing and playing a string instrument. (The instrument was a guitar.) Mrs. Harris and her daughter were playing two different wind instruments. They had no idea what type of musical instruments they were playing, but it sounded good. (Lexa was playing with her harmonica and Jessica Harris was playing her saxophone.)

-KNM-Start lyric-KNM- 

I will sail my vessel 'till the river runs dry, like a bird upon the wind, these waters are my sky, I'll never reach my destination, If I never try, so I will sail my vessel, 'til the river runs dry.  
Too many times we stand aside and let the water slip away, 'til what we put off 'til tomorrow has now become today. Therefore, don't you sit upon the shoreline and say you are satisfied, choose to chance the rapids and dare to dance the tide .Yes. 

-KNM-End lyric-KNM-

Slowly, so as not to break the magic, they sneaked closer to the fire, and sat down by the students, and listened as the magic of music calmed them down. They could see that the Jedi themselves had been involved in combat. Wounds and burn marks where seen on Xander and Jaina's armor and bandages on the face off Jedi Jaalib.  
They also saw that somehow the press had found their way here before they did.

-KNM- Start lyric- KNM-

I will sail my vessel, 'til the river runs dry, like a bird upon the wind, these waters are my sky, I'll never reach my destination if I never try. Therefore, I will sail my vessel, 'til the river runs dry.  
There is bound to be rough waters and I know I will take some falls, but with the good lords as my captain, I can make it through them all. Yes  
I will sail my vessel 'til the river runs dry, like a bird upon the wind, these waters are my sky, I'll never reach my destination if I never try. Therefore, I will sail my vessel, 'til the river runs dry.  
Yes, I will sail my vessel 'til the river runs dry, 'til the river runs dry. 

-KNM- End lyric -KNM-

Then the music stopped. It echoed away softly before the last note died.

Xander was pleased. In his own version of the Harris family he had been the only one who had learned to play, but he was never that great a player. He could play a good country song and hold a tone, but he didn't have IT, the talent to make himself famous, and none of his friends were lovers of good country as he was. After Buffy arrived, he forgot his guitar and he left it to gather dust.

However, this Tony and Jessica Harris were interested in music. They trained and played for fun and so did his new younger sister.

"That was wonderfully played. We were going to contact you because a mystical saboteur activated a jammer installed in the communication towers, which shorted out planetary communications last night. We tried to contact you, but nobody answered and all couriers vanished enroute," Renar Belder said.

He looked around. "From what I can see, it was you and your students who were attacked. I am sorry for the terrible tragedy that has happened."

Xander looked at him. Renar could feel the power inside this young man. For a moment, the politician felt envious over all that power, but then he felt the  
burden of responsibility the young man also carried, and his jealousy vanished.

"I don't feel like I've suffered any tragedy in this. Nobody died, the wounds will heal and loosing the building serves as an important lesson. It teaches us to be on our guard. Lessons like that are going to save our lives in the future." Xander looked around the still smoking and burning ruin of the mansion. "The question is not if we continue, because the academy will be restored. The questions are in knowing and now understanding that with a Jedi academy on the planet, our protection needs to be faster and come at the right time and place. Our guidance and help is easy to find, but also our enemies will come around to hurt us and some of them are dangerous." He looked at them. "The question is, will it be rebuild on this planet or should we move on?"

Renar wished by the power of the Force that the Jedi had not asked that question. He could see the reporter standing nearby, listening. "Officially I cannot make a statement right now, but I assure you that I for one am going to do what I can to help you rebuild."

His communicator rang. "Wait." If that was a commercial about a new repulsor car, he would have somebody assassinated.

-KNM-

Short moments later

"That was the government. Apparently they saw what had happened." Renar pointed at the reporters. "They were transmitting live. As long as you are willing to stay on Shesharile 5-6, they want you to be here. They're going to organize the rebuilding, and even improvements so that these awful attacks on our planet will never happen again and that if they do, next time planetary security will detect them in advance."

For a short moment, he could see tears in the eyes of the young man, but he quickly collected himself.

"Thanks." Xander said as his wife snuggled up next to him. It looked like the reporters wanted to ask questions, but something in his eyes or perhaps it were just a presence and an aura that came from him, told them that now was not the time.

A young teen was not affected at all by Xander's aura though and she raised her hand. "Xander, play more music," Dawn whined.

Jaina giggled, as Xander turned to Tony. "What do you say? More songs before we ask, if they can get us medical attention?"

The older man grinned. "I know just the song after the way you and Jaina and all the others were fighting. It's about you."

As his father's guitar started to play, Xander picked up the song, letting Tony sing. The man had a voice. He could have been a real singer. Lexa and Jessica followed with their instruments.

-KNM- Start lyric -KNM-

-What in the worlds came all over me? I did not have gotten a chance of one in three. Ain't got no rap, ain't got no line, but if you will give me just a minute I'll be feeling fine.  
I am the one who can face the heat. The one, they all say, just cannot be beat. I will shoot it to you straight and look you in the eye. So gimme just a minute and I will tell you why. I am a rough boy. I am a rough boy.  
I do not care how you look at me. Because I am, the one and you will see. We can make it work. We can make it by. So give me one more minute and I'll tell you why, I'm a rough girl, I'm a rough girl. 

-KNM- End lyric -KNM-

Jaina grinned at the end. Xander snorted. As far as he remembered, there was no rough girl in the ZZ-top version, but he liked this one better. It had Jaina in it.

As the end of the notes echo in the ruins, the repulsor ambulance landed to help the wounded to the hospital. A repulsor buss followed on its heels.

-KNM-

Next day

Thanks to the bacta-healing gel and a Jedi healing trance Xander, Jaina, Jaalib and Fable were up and running the next day.

They could hear the argument from the Brandel room. Fable was trying to convince her husband to have cosmetic surgery to remove the scars from his face and Jaalib was claiming he was sure it would bring a more dramatic feeling to him when he was acting. He could always use make up to hide the scarred half of his face or a mask like in that story about the Phantom, when de needed to.

Xander and Jaina had gone away, amused by the vain Jedi-actor's antics.

-KNM-

Later

Standing in the middle of the room Xander and Jaina were surrounded by holograms, the hollow illusions of Luke Skywalker, Corran Horn and many others.

The Jedi masters were having a meeting.

Even being so far away, they could feel the power of the others. Many abilities worked according to the line of sight or if you could sense their presence. Somehow, a hologram could carry those presences even light years away.

The holo image of Dorsk 82 shivered as he turned his face around to look at the other Masters. "I wish to know more about the proposition the Mandalorian's recently sent us. Does anyone of you know why the current Lord Mandalore wishes to ally his people with the Galactic Federation?"

Jaina almost giggled. "Because the Mandalorian Dana, a Force Guardian and his adopted daughter, is a friend to us, we have been in contact with her and talked to the Lord Mandalore or, as he is better known, Bobba Fett. We mentioned that, historically, every time the Mandalorians and the Jedi have been fighting, the Mandalorians have lost, but against dark Jedi or Sith they have been the winners more than once." Jaina explained and then looked around. "We also mentioned that with the fall of the Republic, the galaxy has fallen into millions of minor empires. Many of them have a grudge against the Mandalorians and their civilians. The children and the old have always been their weakness. More than once have the prideful Mandalorians been crushed because an enemy attacked their home world when their army and fleet was out fighting in some a war."

Xander continued, "We mentioned that with the situation as it is, even they need somebody on their side. The Galactic Federation and the Jedi Knight's could be that somebody and they have something we need. The Federation needs warriors."

Dorsk nodded. "That explains the meeting and the communications that we have been having," he almost laughed. He'd just known Xander would be behind the occurrence.

Luke was about to congratulate them when he too fell silent. He could feel it. Xander was silent, gathering his thoughts and his mind before speaking, trying to sense what the other Masters opinion might be before talking, this would be something big, Luke just knew it.

Xander took a deep breath of air before he began. He tried to feel the others emotions to get an idea on how to start this. "I know that Jedi do not crave vengeance. I know that a Jedi does not seek retribution, but we are protectors and Lady Lumiya is a sick dog that hurts, kills and spreads her sickness all around her. That is why she needs to be taken down, permanently," he said.

"Master Alexander, it is not as easy as you claim. She is dangerous and difficult to find at best," Luke said.

Xander shook his head. "No, finding her is hard. Getting her to come to you is easy. If she has ships, if she has soldiers, they live somewhere. The ships are repaired somewhere, if we can find that somewhere, we can force her to come to us."

"What do you suggest we do?" Corran Horn asked.

Xander answered. "Preemptive defense, this is not the first time, nor will it be the last time Lumiya has attacked us. Before, she was focused on you, Master Skywalker, but she failed and you let her live, hoping you could turn her to the light again."

He took a deep breath. It was time to distract them. "At that time it was not a foolish attempted that you made, Luke, to try to redeem her. If I had been in your situation, I hope I would have had the moral strength to do the same. I found out from the ghosts, that you, most of the Skywalkers and I myself have an affinity in returning the fallen to the light, in redeeming the fallen, but as you know, she turned you down and now she is attacking us, your friends and family."

There were arguments and shocked voices over what Xander had said about redeeming the fallen. Xander send a weak mind compulsion towards the others.  
"Silence. It is not so difficult to understand or such a unique a thing. Other races, like the ancient Bith, the Duinuogwuin, the Star Dragons, or the Draethos, could do the same. There are even races the dark side has no power over at all. The Tchuukthai, Tinnell and many more, but the opposite is also true. Rakans apparently once were a race that the light side had no power over. They pushed their own mastery over the dark too much, until nothing of their sensitivity was left."

He looked at them. "Luke, the ability the Skywalkers and I have is unusual, but nothing major in the great history of the galaxy. Even Kyle Katarn seems to have a similar ability. All it means is that we are closer to having balance in the Force that other humans. We still have to watch out for the darkness in our own heart. Like all other beings, humans, Bith or star-dragon."

The others nodded. Perhaps Luke and Xander's ability was not that strange. A Bith Jedi master mused, so he was different, special perhaps.

Xander continued, "Now leaving that behind, the important thing is Lumiya. She attacked innocents at the academy. She nearly killed innocent children. Her hatred of the Jedi and of anyone cooperating with Luke knows no limit. She even created a hybrid child. Hakon was a monster that murdered who knows how many Jedi?" They were listening to him.

"I hereby declare her the new Dark Lady of the Sith and an enemy of the Jedi order. Anybody serving or working for her is working against the Jedi order. Who seconds my declaration?" He could feel it. They were confused by his information about his and Luke's ability.

Jaina waited. She hoped one of the others would second the nomination. It would be a sure win if that happened. If she as his wife seconded it, it would have less of a chance of winning.

Not surprisingly, Eelysa, the young female human Jedi Master Xander had met earlier, suddenly raised her hand. "I second that motion."

After a moment of silence, Dorsk 82 raised his voice as the third. "I agree. With great dislike having to do say this but I have to agree. She is a danger to all of our spawns."

Tyria Sarkin Tainer was next.

Jaina walked forward. "My husband and I meditated about this for a long time. It is not with an easy heart that we do this, but we feel the danger from the Dark Lady has to be quenched at the source. I agree to let the power of the light burn away the darkness she brings forth," she said, letting her words powered by the Force echo with her willpower.

Luke looked at his wife Mara before he himself said: "Years ago when I was a young man, Shira Bree came to me. She was a rebel pilot, wonderful, sexy and brave, and we flew countless of mission. During an infiltration mission where we used TIE fighters, my TIE's sensors were blinded and I used the Force to guide me. I felt a ship attacking me and I shot it down. It was Shira Bree's ship. She died, the reports said, killed on a mission by my hands."

He looked at them and then continued: "We found out that she was an Imperial spy and that she had finally been given the order from the Emperor to kill me. The Force had saved my life that day, but I spend months in depression because of what happened, believing the Force itself had betrayed me and made me murder her. However, she was not dead. The Emperor and Lord Vader had saved her and rebuild her with cybertech to create the new Dark Lady Lumiya." He sighed.

"That's her background. My sense in the Force itself tells me that she is as evil as they come. She wants or wishes for no redemption, but I still see only Shira, my friend and lover, and the girl I believed I had murdered when I faced her in combat. Hakon the monster Lumiya created using DNA from herself and a blood sample she had stolen from me. In a sick way, he was my oldest son. I agree with Xander's vote." Luke said."I do wish that some other Master would take the role of the responsible senior master in this case. My emotions, the hatred and love I feel for Lumiya might betray us. I nominate Kam Solusar."

Corran Horn nodded, "I second that."

Xander said, "I refrain from voting." Who would be the Jedi general in their war against Lumiya did not really interests him. He just wanted her dead before innocent beings would die. She was like a sick dog in need of being put down.

They looked surprised.

Xander smiled and said, "I came with the vote of hunting her down. I feel that I should not be responsible for who is in charge over hunting her down. I too have strong feelings about finding her and ending her life. They are too strong," he said, eyes glittering in green and yellow. For a moment, he looked more like a deadly predator ready to attack than a human being.

Shivers of fear danced down the back of many a Jedi Master.

Xander looked at Kam Solust. "Master Kam Solust, if you wish for me to be a part of the hunt, I will do whatever you say, but I fear that Lumiya's humiliation by our hands yesterday will make us a prime target. She will try to hunt us down and finding the bitch might be easier then you expect, if you keep a pair of eyes on me and Jaina." He smiled slightly. "I'm genetically improved to be a human weapon, improved to hunt and kill the enemy. Part of me is a hunter and staying completely out of the hunt might be impossible for me. But I should not be in charge as I'm quite brutal and effective in my way of hunting." he said as a warning.

Luke nodded. "Like Hakon, he too was created as a weapon," he said as a warning to Xander.

Jaina rolled her eyes. "Hakon had no choice, he was modified from birth. Xander chose to become a weapon to save his world and his loved ones. That is the difference."

Xander smiled slightly. "Jaina, Luke is right. My urge to hunt whoever has hurt my pack, my family, could easily become dangerous, if I lose control over it."

He smiled at Luke. "I thank you. Reminding me was not needed this time, but it is appreciated none the less." His eyes glittered green and yellow as he looked at Luke with the eyes of a predator as dangerous as a rancor and smarter than a hungry Katarn. 

One by one, the masters turned the hyperspace communication off.

Luke was the only Master left. "You handled that well. You caught them by such a surprise that more than half of them voted against their own wishes," he said as he looked at Xander.

The boy's eyes glittered as he studied the older Jedi master. "I do what I need to protect, Master Skywalker. Unlike you, I do believe that once the danger is clear and the enemy indentified, an offensive self-defense is not an act of the dark side. It's simply an act of defense," he said, studying the older man.

Luke sighed. "I disagree. You walk preciously close to the dark side. Tell me, what kinds of spirits visit you at night?" he asked.

Xander flinched at the hidden accusation. "Those that serve the light side, Luke, and as before, I'm refusing the madness and evilness of the dark side. What I told you is the truth, the Skywalker blood, but especially Leia's, your fathers and yours, have a balance in the Force and the change I suffered as I came here gave me the same ability. The darkside can only take us if we let it take us. You yourself walked the dark side at the reborn Emperor's side, but you refused the darkness and returned. Did you not?"

Luke eyes glittered strangely yellow for a moment. "I did," he almost purred out. "And the darkness is a shadow that will always be with me." Jaina shivered. She'd been too young then to remember anything about that side of Luke.

Xander grinned as his eyes glittered yellow and green before slowly turning only green. "The light side is life, Luke, only life. The dark side is nothing but death, only death, and the madness of destruction. The dark becomes evil because our poor minds are unable to handle it." He seemed to be face to face with Luke.

"I refuse the darkness, Luke. Not because I fear it, but because I know what is inside me. I am a hunter, a killer, a warrior and a protector. I grew up on the gate to Hell itself and I am a weapon forged by a being of pure good and one of pure evil. They reformed me and having been touched by those powers, I know evil better than you could ever understand."

Luke was silent as he watched the young man before him for a second. He understood as he backed away from the hologram in front of him. "You walk the border," he said.

Xander nodded. "Always have. Always will. I walk the line," he focused.

Even from light years away Luke could feel it, the hyperspace communication working as the link they needed.

Xander's body slowly started to glow in the Force Light, the most dangerous and powerful manifestation of the light side. A manifestation even a student could learn, but only a master could survive. Then his face twisted in anger and hatred as Dark force lightning danced between his hands. Slowly the lightning of hatred and anger died out and the glow of Force light return.

Luke was silent. Only the sound of his breathing was being heard. "I have to meditate on this," he said.

Xander nodded. "I know Anakin Skywalker said it, but you have to understand. He never surrendered to the dark side. Even as Lord Vader, he was a Jedi, trapped by the Emperor, by Lord Sidious Palpatine. Even you I suspect were being held under his manipulative control. All he had to do was to aim your anger from the real target to anybody Sidious wanted you to destroy and use his own powers to keep you constantly angry."

Luke nodded. Leia broke the control Palpatine had him under.

Xander nodded. "It's good that you worry Luke, but I refuse the dark side. Even at the death of my loved one, I refuse evil," he said as his eyes glittered a dim dark yellow. "But the bitch has to be taken down. We are fighting a war already and having her coming from nowhere and attacking us is something we cannot afford."

They were silent for a while, then it looked like an understanding or an acceptance came just before both of them turned the communication off.

Jaina looked at Xander. "So dark force hunting then?" she asked.

Xander nodded. "The Enterprise should be ready by the end of the month and so will my foot." He looked at her. "The question is who is coming?" He so wished the foot was ready already.

Jaina grinned. "Lowbacka would wish to come, but he has other things that he needs to do. Anakin would come and Danni of course."

Xander grinned, "Rona, Chloe and Riley as well." He frowned. "Buffy will come regardless of the fact that she should spend time training in ranger methods, and the same with Dawn."

Jaina asked. "What about Lexa?" She knew that Xander's younger sister would have a fit unless she had a chance to join them. "She did prove herself against the dark bitch."

Xander hang his head. "I know, but Dad isn't going to like me putting Lexa in danger."

Danni, Anakin, Rona, Chloe, Riley, Buffy, Dawn and Lexa, Xander smiled. "Almost a full ship," he turned and watched her. Jaina was so wonderful and perfect.

"I'm glad I invested in a team of doctor droids. An MD-5 General practitioner droid and the MD-0 Diagnostic, FX-Medical assistant droid and also a 2-1B surgery droid," Jaina said.

Xander blinked. The MD combined with a 2-1B was a formidable medical team. "Are you trying to make the Enterprise a flying hospital?"

Jaina giggled. "Don't worry. We're only going to let the 2-1B and the FX on the ship. The rest will stay in the academy once it's rebuilt." She grinned. "Tony wanted to help rebuild and work in a real hospital. This way the academy could have a good real hospital and help civilians in need."

Xander nodded. "It's a good idea. Have…" He was interrupted by Jaina: "I talked to them? A small hospital is going to be built outside the main compound, but within the protective walls. To help those in need and to teach the students the value of helping others and understanding that there is always somebody that suffers worse than you do."

Xander grinned. "Great, let's arrange the crew and get my ship." He saw Jaina look up. "Our ship, no, ours ships. You got a new XJ-Wing." Jaina grinned. "And Anakin has what he calls his Anakin-Wing."

Xander snorted. "His A-Wing," He sighed. "I hate being stumpy."

Jaina giggled as she hugged Xander. "You could have had a cybernetic foot and not grown a clone one. It would have been faster."

Chapter 9

The air rushed around, creating small twisters as the air pressure changed. The high density paint they had chosen needed three times the normal atmospheric pressure to dry. The hangar had solved that problem easily. They closed the doors, sealed the hangar and then pumped up the atmosphere.

Now the seal was broken as the owners walked into the hangar, the cloaks on their bodies twisting in the wind which was created by the escaping air. Inside the fighters glittered like a stallion eager for a run, like a hawk ready for the kill or like a hungry tiger on a hunt.

Parked side by side were an A-Wing painted in glittering red and gold with the name of the owner, Anakin Organa Solo, painted on its hull. With the help of his sister and brother-in-law, the A-Wing mark2 had been enhanced far above factory specifications. Beside it was an XJ-Wing, painted in red and silver, also improved and enhanced far above factory norms.

Finally the last ship in the hangar, which was not glittering at all, in fact its grey black hull looked old and the red tainted, even rusty, but it was not. The armor was as strong as Xander could get away with and now repaired after the crash. He had installed improved atmospheric thrusters and aerodynamic shields.

The ship was build like a brick, not aerodynamic in the least. Aerodynamic shields help to create an improved aerodynamic field around the ship. Depending on the need, the field could be shaped like a bullet or like a delta wing. It was something normally found on atmospheric star fighters or bombers like the clumsy looking Y-Wing and sadly missing from the TIE fighter.

He had added extra hull plates around the missile launchers, which could hide them from view. The two quad laser cannons had been modified and most of the heavy machinery and electronic needed to create a heavy plasma pulse was now bellow the hull with hidden sensor bafflers around it. They helped to create an illusion that it was a quad of light self-defense laser cannon instead of the heavy duty offensive weapon it actually was. The outside parts of the eight cannons were slimmed down, made to look smaller and not at all like the pair of heavy laser cannons quad they were.

Lastly the twin auto laser cannons were not hidden at all. They were the smallest weapons on the ship and even now, improved, as it was, its ability to do damage was still pathetic. Yet the rate of fire from one of the twin auto laser cannons was higher than both the quads combined and each time the auto laser hit a target, it improved the targeting computer's chances on getting a target lock.

He rather liked those tiny cannons. It was a targeting system you could kill with easily.

The Enterprise had never looked better in Xander's eyes. It still appeared to be an armed merchant with heavy armor, but it no longer looked like a ship of war.

He could feel it in the Force. Imbued by the power of the Force the ship felt almost alive, waiting for him. He grinned. It was not a good looking ship, but it had its charm.

R3 beside him sounded happy. Xander had wiped the droid recently. The simple procedure destroyed the hard wired need to obey organic masters. R3 still had its need to protect and to serve, but now he could choose if he wanted to obey or not, even whether he wanted to stay with Xander or find himself a new owner. He was an independent droid and Xander even offered him a pay check.

It took him two hours before the electric stun to his leg wore off. R3 didn't want a paycheck, just the chance to work. He considered the idea of a paycheck an insult.

The last new improvement Xander had installed in the droid, was an experimental restraining bolt remover, build from some illegal equipment. (Just as illegal as the backup memory R3 had inside of him now.) R3's calculations and tests showed the remover could remove 25% of the most commonly used civilian restraining bolts used to control droids.

Xander really liked his droid. R3 was a work of art, stubborn and fun, caring and annoying at the same time, and it was a friend.  
"I know R3, I know. She looks wonderful," he said. "Honey, let's go and get the others. Let's fly down and get them."  
Jaina grinned. "Beat you there."

"You may beat Xander, sister mine, but unlike him or you, I have some real speed," Anakin bragged.

Xander ignored them as he walked up to his ship. He was home again. "Open hatch, activate ship sensors and activate all interior systems." He reached out, connecting himself to the Force.

One by one, systems not even connected to the computer, started to activate.

Xander grinned. He had done it. "Hi girl, did you miss me?"

R3 beeped beside him, impressed with his master's control over lesser machines. He felt from the computer link up he had with the Enterprise how Xander talked with the ship using only the Force, a subject he had no understanding of at all.

Xander blinked. "Um, sure I could enhance you with the Force like the ship, my armor and lightsabers. But you know it's just a way for me to communicate with and manipulate a non-living object more easily."

R3 beeped again, stupid organics. If Xander could more easily communicate with him, then he could serve Xander more easily.

Xander blinked. "Hey, I'm not stupid, rust bucket." He backed away. "Put away the electric stunner. I'm warning you. Ouch. Ouch! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

R3 backed away. That should teach him.

"Aggressive rust bucket," Xander growled out, holding his leg. He focused on the ship again.

A strong sound of humming was the only answer he felt as the ship connected to him. It was not sentient and would perhaps never be, but it was alive in a strange sense, an extended part of him and the tomatoes looked big and ready to eat. He picked up one from the many plants scattered around the ship. "Yea, this is sweet," he said. His left foot was restored. A new cloned foot had replaced his old destroyed foot with the help of a tiny operation. Not even he could see the difference. A perfect fit.

-KNM-

Later at the mansion

Jaina XJ-Wing had beaten Anakin's A-Wing and last by one hour and fifty five minutes was Xander. He refused to race. Instead he took the scenic route and  
enjoyed the flight. The aerodynamic shield worked perfectly, no more vibration as the Enterprise flew in the atmosphere, and turning maneuvers were easier now, as the aerodynamic-shield helped him maneuver more like an airplane. He could twist the shield and improve the Enterprise's ability to maneuver in atmosphere.

Still, she would never be as elegant inside the soup as she was in space.  
(Soup = Spacer talk for flying in atmosphere, often said in a negative, angry, irritated or even a tired tone of voice.)

The mansion was still being rebuilt, with improved security. It was quite the sight.

-KNM-

Later

Nobak had started to hang around Bije to get training from the Bith. Apparently he had impressed the young Herglic.

Xander smiled as he talked to the crew that would join them.

Jaina had solved some problems. "Buffy, a Jedi student under her master wants and needs a Force Guardian to keep her safe and her Master wished that it should be someone she knows."

Buffy blinked. "I know a Jedi." Then she knew who it was. "It's Willow, right?"

Xander nodded. "Willow needs you Buffy." He could see that Buffy was unsure.

"Don't worry. I have a ship full of people to keep me safe and Xander has started to train me in the Force," Dawn said, grinning happily. She would be a Jedi.  
She would be a Jedi. She would be a Jedi.

Did she say that she would be a Jedi? Just asking...

Xander nodded and continued: "It's not forever Buffy. Willow wishes to return and be my student as soon as she's trained in the basics."

Slowly Buffy nodded. "Right, I will go," she said.

Xander was relived, seeing that Buffy and Willow would be near each other and out of his way.

He knew that they would be in his way to train Dawn.

"Thanks. We're going to give the two of you a ride over to Luke's place where K'Krukh is waiting."  
Danni, Anakin, Rona, Chloe, Riley, Dawn, Lexa.

The Enterprise was almost full. Two crew and ten passengers was the max load it could carry. Now they had two crews and six passengers. Not that he minded. In a battle he needed at minimum two gunners, three would be best, a copilot and a sensor operator, which made six crew members. Riley would take over the missiles. He had the right attitude for a missile gunner, waiting patiently for the right moment. Chloe and Rona would handle the top and bottom gun turrets, Jaina would copilot or if Jaina was in the X-Wing, then Danni would. Although this time he was thinking on letting Lexa take the copilot seat. She was good, but lacked the experience and had no license. Danni was better at sensors anyway. In any case, he only needed a dedicated sensor operator to help R3 during battle.

He nodded. That would be the plan.

"Alright crew. Listen up." He looked at them. "Danni, Jaina and during combat Lexa as copilots, Jaina is first copilot and only if she is in the X-Wing will Danni take over. In combat situations Lexa will be copilot and Danni takes the sensors. Riley, the missiles are yours. Rona and Chloe, you two get the top and bottom turrets."

He then turned to Dawn. "You my friend will sadly get the worst job during combat, communications. R3 has a decoding program. I want you and him to help keep our communication secret during combat and try to listen in on the enemy. Most likely you will fail, but it would be totally sweet if you managed it. Sensors will help you," he said, smiling. He hated to leave anybody hanging and who knows? Dawn had a talent with languages and it might carry over to communications.

They nodded as Danni started to explain the importance and the advantage they could get by having enemy intelligence.

Slowly the Enterprise lifted off. They had a long journey before them.

First to leave Buffy at the training center near the valley of the Jedi and then find information from Kam Solust and try to see what he himself could wrangle up.

Perhaps it would be a good idea to first leave Buffy and then visit Han and Leia.

-KNM-

Later in the ship

Jaina had taken over the lessons for Danni and they were going forward with great speed. She already had training as a Force witch. Now she learned the Jedi way.

"So let's start with a breathing exercise Dawn," Xander said as they sat down on the floor side by side.

"Close your eyes and breathe slowly in while you count to three. Then breathe slowly out again while counting to three." Xander said in an almost hypnotic voice. "Now, as you're counting and breathing, keep doing it until you get the rhythm down, slowly in and then out. No counting needed. In," he waited. "Then out," wait, "In," he watched her slowly become more relaxed.  
"Then out. Now, feel me inside of you," he said as he pushed his own presence inside of Dawn. "Follow that presence deeper. Keep breathing in and out slowly, slowly." She was relaxed again. "Now follow me slowly in and out."

Dawn looked relaxed and on the inside she was reaching out, following him. "Now do you feel it, the power around you? Surrounding you?"

"Yes," Dawn said and to Xander's joy and impressed surprise, she kept the connection.  
Xander smiled. Dawn would never be a powerful Jedi nor would she be a weak one, but she was easy to teach and a fast learner.  
Xander smiled. "Now open your eyes and try to keep the connection open," he said, standing up. He had a weapons system he had to check up on, an energy missile launcher he was planning to install on the Enterprise. Energy missiles were smaller than proton torpedoes or concussion missiles. They were essentially starfighter size bullets, charged with energy that made them able to explode with the power of a proton torpedo.

Most ships had two pairs of shields. Energy shields used more power which means that normally they were activated during combat only. The other shields were the particle shields that protected the hull against solid objects. The particle shield was projected as a part of the ship's hull. Normally it was always active.

The energy shield was like a bubble around the ship. Solid objects like a missile could fly through it while an energy weapon had to overpower the energy shield before they could hit. On a big ship like a stardestroyer, a starfighter could fly under the energy shield and attack the ship's hull.

Energy missiles, like all missiles, could fly right through an energy shield without even noting that it existed, and its explosion was extremely powerful for its small size. The down side with them was that they were simple fire and forget types of weapons. Their size made them perfect for starfighters. Both sides had used them during the Clone Wars, but they were replaced with more effective proton torpedoes and turbolaser cannons. Now a day's only smugglers used them because they were easy to hide. Xander had a pair of launchers he would install as a turret on the Enterprise.

"Keep up the practice, I'll be back," he said, standing up. He froze. "Dawn, only test your Force ability for now. Later, you and Lexa can try to learn your other gifts."

Dawn blinked, but nodded. Sure.

In the galley Buffy and Rona were talking about the difference between being a Slayer and being a Force guardian. Buffy being the only one who had knowledge of both sides was trying to describe feelings that were difficult to describe, like explaining colors to a blind person or sound to a deaf one.  
Her English and basic knowledge was found lacking for the task.

Rona sighted, trying to understand. "So, there's a big difference then?" she asked the frustrated Buffy.

The former Slayer nodded. "Yea, as the Slayer you had the Slayer spirit inside of you and it was dark and disgusting in a way. Still, there was a feeling like you wanted more of it," she said, frowning. "Anything human, anything with a soul, good or evil, didn't matter, was something the spirit protected."  
Willow looked at them before turning to Danni. "What kinds of Master is K'Krukh going to be?" she asked, nervous.

Danni blinked. "I heard he's great. With beginners he's a real softy," she said with a smile. She could feel that Willow was afraid. "Don't worry, he's a great guy."

Willow nodded. "I know. I just feel that you were lucky to have Xander and Jaina as your Masters," she said, sighing. "But it would feel strange having Xander as my mentor." Seeing Danni's confusion and slightly insulted look Willow quickly explained. "I grew up with Xander and for so many years he pretended to be stupid. He hid his own intelligence so well, that even I, who knew how smart he was, had forgotten about it." She looked at the girl who had red-pink skin and hair even redder than her own.

"I think that Xander believed for a long time that he was stupid himself. That's why it would be strange to have him as my mentor, my master in the Force," she shrugged.

Danni nodded. "I see," she lied. The Xander she knew was different. He was a focused brilliant man who was sometimes a bit of a clown, a clown who was afraid of clowns.


	4. Chapter 10 and 11

Chapter 10

Inside the hangar

Dawn opened her eyes, still breathing slowly in and out. "It was incredible," she said, her eyes wet with tears. The feeling of the Force was absolutely incredible.

She looked down as she focused inside to feel that connection again. For a moment she paused. She had a second power, one that according to Dr Harris was a Psi power created by the Key. What would happen if she connected to that power? All right, so Xander had just warned her NOT to do it, but what would just a quick test do?

Xander froze as he felt the void. Dawn was using the power of the Key. She had opened a dimensional void and she had done it while they were in hyperspace. Dawn no, not in hyperspace.

"NO DAWN!"

Feeling Dawn vanishing from the ship as hyperspace itself was dragging her away molecule after molecule, Xander pushed out with his own power of the void, trying to keep her alive and inside the ship. Outside in hyperspace a wormhole opened, crackling with power, protesting as two different powers opened a gate.

Suddenly everything was chaos as the ship was ripped away from the universe, tumbling along the multiple paths of alternate realities. Chaos, fear and pain filled the ship as it exited hyperspace in an alternate reality with an explosion of light.

It was dark inside. Slowly the engine became active once more as the Enterprise recovered from the surprise journey between dimensions.

Buffy blinked as she and Rona stood up. "That is SO not a good sign," she complained.  
Rona nodded. "What happened?" she asked.

From the cockpit Anakin's voice roared out: "Xander, Jaina come here, now!" They could feel the panic in his voice.

-KNM-

A short moment later

Xander looked out. That was not a good sign, so not a good sign.

"I… I'm not getting any of the normal planets or systems on the sensors or communications," Jaina said, worried.

"What happened?" Buffy growled out.

"Something less than good," Willow said, just as worried as all of them.

Xander answered, "Dawn progressed far in her ability to access her powers."

They all looked at him as if he was crazy.

He smiled a bit. "I admit that the progress should not have been in hyperspace or at this particular moment, but she is on her way to mastering the ability to open wormholes to alternate realities."

Now they all looked at the blushing Dawn. "Um sorry?" she said waving her hand a little, blushing even redder.

Lexa snorted. "What about those ships outside?" she asked.

Xander leaned back in the pilot seat. "That, my friend, is the million credit question. I think that somehow Dawn managed to strike a hole into hyperspace, a hole that was killing her. When I combined my ability and pulled Dawn back together again, the hole became a wormhole that trapped the Enterprise and the other ships."

Jaina nodded. "And we all ended up here. Where ever here is," she finished.

Xander smiled a tight smile. "Exactly."

Nearby the engine of another ship was returning to action. It was a strange ship with glittering armor and it looked like a small pyramid or like a baby star destroyer. A 200 meter long KDY Dagger-Corvette, one of the best multi-purpose ships created. Sadly, the Imperial navy preferred dedicated ships. The civilian market considered the dagger corvette to be too expensive or not good enough. Its cargo capacity was too small for a cargo-ship that size and it didn't have enough weapons for a warship of its size, and its hangars were too small for a hangar-ship. The last fault was that its armor was thin compared to other warships or hangar-ship in its size class.

It also was expensive to rebuild, but if you wanted a ship that could do almost anything, then the Dagger was a great ship. It had many weapons, big hangars and good armor compared to other cargo-ships of similar size. Its cargo space was big compared to another warship and the cargo space could be rebuilt to increase passenger or hangar space. If you were willing to pay the prize to modify it and improve its armor, it could even become a good war-ship.

Anakin could see that this one had been improved and had more weapons for one. "It has improved weaponry."

"They're dead. The wormhole that pulled us here killed the crew on that ship," Xander said softly.

Behind him Dawn gasped in terror. "I… I killed them?" she whispered.

Xander nodded. "We did Dawn. The moment I saved your life, was the moment I took the risk that something like this would happen." He turned to his new student. "Training a Jedi is a terrible and dangerous thing to do, especially if the student decides she or he is more skilled then they really are. Accidents happen and innocent life will be destroyed," he said, looking at Dawn with eyes full of disappointment, but also understanding.

Dawn shivered before she turned around and ran out from the cockpit, crying.

"Xander, what did you do?" Buffy asked.

Xander's voice interrupted her with a command that clearly told her it was the JEDI MASTER who was talking, not her old friend. "Buffy,  
Dawn deliberately disobeyed my order and almost killed herself and all of us with her curiosity. I love your sister as much as I love my own, Buffy, but she has to understand what she almost did. How dangerous her and our powers can be to play with." He sighed. "Now go and be a sister, comfort her. Tell her I'm not angry, disappointed yes, but not angry."

Buffy wanted to smash his head in. He had made her little sister cry, but the asshole was right. "I'll go and check up on her."

Willow and Lexa nodded. "Me too," they said in unison.

The silence in the cockpit was deafening.

"What? You think what I said was wrong?" he asked.

Jaina shrugged. "No, it needed to be said. But I pity her."

Anakin nodded. "I think you were a bit hard on her."

Chloe smiled. "You were a real asshole X. But she needed to hear it."

Rona frowned. "Really Chloe? I just think you're partial," she said smugly. Chloe, Dawn and Lexa had all been sniffing around Anakin. So far the kid had been too intimidated by Chloe to actually do anything, and the other two? Well, Xander's skill in using a lightsaber was almost as intimidating.

Riley voiced his opinion also, "You did the right thing boss, but you better go and talk to Dawn in about fifteen minutes or so. Comfort her and explain to her that you're not angry, just disappointed and scared that she almost killed herself. Everyone makes mistakes after all. It's how you handle the responsibility afterwards that's important."

Xander sighed. "Right, Jaina, lets land on that ship. We might need the fuel it has on board, as well as other things."

-KNM-

One Force assisted landing later

It was worse than expected inside.

The wormhole had drained the ship's energy completely and flash froze each and everyone inside the ship. The water inside their blood had expended and had crushed the veins inside the hard frozen bodies as they fell down on the ground. Most of them had cracked into countless pieces of frozen crystal like flesh on impact. When the ship had exited the wormhole and the generator slowly activated again, heat spread inside the ship, creating a nightmare.

"Oh god." Buffy said, trying not to puke as she walked over the crumbled remains that once were the insides of a human gut.

Jaina swallowed the bile, fighting to get out of her mouth. "It's bad."

Buffy nodded, shivering. She had seen bad things before, even worse during her time as the Vampire slayer, but this? "We can't let Dawn see this," she said, shivering.

Jaina almost nodded. "Too late, there's no way we can hide it from her." She didn't mention the second reason. Dawn had to learn that actions had consequences, sometimes dire consequences.

The two struggled further inside, trying to find the droid command station. If they could re-activate the droids on the ship, they could put them on cleaning duty and fix up the worst of the ship.

In the hangar Dawn was trembling as she and Xander walked around. He had chosen that area as it did not had as many nightmares spread out on the floor as the rest of the ship. It had enough for an abject lesson, but not too much to traumatize the girl beyond hope.

"I killed them," she said in a whisper, her voice filled with shame.

Xander hugged her closer. "No, you almost killed yourself. I decided to save your life and our powers combined together created this. We killed them, not you, Dawn. This was a billion against one chance that a ship would be nearby, a billion against one or less. Simple bad luck, but we're still responsible for doing a dangerous thing."

Dawn looked up at him. "Really?"

Xander nodded. "The smart and right thing for me to do would have been to just shield the ship and let your body be destroyed by hyperspace, but I care for you, my student. So, I took the chance that this could happen, even if it was a billion against one."  
She shivered. "I wish I had died instead," Dawn said.

Only to get a slap on her face from Xander, "Do not say that. Think about Buffy, Willow, Lexa, Chloe, Anakin. We all would have missed you. Remember what happened and next time, we'll be more careful. Right?" he asked.

Dawn nodded.

Xander gave Lexa a wink with his hand. "Take her back to the room. There's a lot of work to do and she's not up to it right now."

Lexa nodded. She didn't like her brother's actions, but seeing what had happened, she understood it. This ship had a crew of around 400 beings. A mix between humans and Duros with some other odd aliens mixed in. Now they were all dead.

"I keep an eye on her," she said.

Riley frowned from his position near the cargo docks of the big ship. "That's mighty cold of boss man," he said to Rona, who was standing near him.

She nodded. "Yeah, but the carnage that happened…" She shivered at the thought.

Riley's dark eyes glittered as he looked around. "Let's get to it. We have no idea what we need in the future, so let's plunder."

Rona shrugged. "Why don't we just take this ship instead?" she asked.

Riley answered, "It needs too much fuel. Filling up the Enterprise with extra fuel and things is more effective. Besides, part of the ship seemed to be damaged from the journey, freeze damage on the systems, and I think we'll be stuck here for a while from what I heard Xander and Jaina say."

Rona blinked. "Really? Why?"

Riley shrugged as he walked up to a cargo container and opened it. "He needs to get a fix on our home reality, meditation and things."

She nodded.

-KNM-

Meanwhile

Willow looked around the hangar. It had ships in it, smaller ships, but still. She suspected they were E-wings from the look of them or maybe not. She admitted to herself that she had no idea actually.

"How are you?" Xander asked.

She shrugged. "Been better. You were really cruel to Dawn," Willow said.

Xander sighed as he took a gentle hold on Willow's shoulder. "The power she and I have is perhaps the most terrible and dangerous ability of all. I understand that and now Dawn also understands." He snorted. "I even fantasized a while on using my power to go on exotic vacations. Then I started to think. Dimensional dangers, aliens and demons, who knows what we might have tailing us back to OUR home if we went gallivanting about with nary a thought?"

Willow eyes became wide in shock. "I didn't think of that," she said.

The two were silent. Xander just looked at his old childhood friend. Did he really know her anymore? Yes, yes, he does know her, but she had just understood that she did not know him, not anymore. "Hi, I'm Jedi Master Alexander Lavelle Harris Solo, also called Xander." He took a deep breath and continued.

"I'm near-human, have gills and am stronger and faster than a normal human. I'm married to the two most beautiful girls in the universe, Jaina and Danni." He gave her a smug smile. "I talk to dead people regularly. Many of my skills were implanted, giving me an advanced learning ability compared to you, Buffy and Dawn." As he finished he asked. "Would you like to be my friend, Willow?"

A pure 100 % Willow smile lighted up her face. "Yes, yes I would," she said. "So, is there anything left of my Xander in you?" she asked.  
Xander frowned as he considered the question. "Yes with a but and no with an if. Perhaps it's up to you?" He grinned, that was a pure Jedi answer and frankly the only answer he could give her.

Willow looked angry. "That's not an answer," she huffed.

Xander shrugged. "It is a Jedi answer. Yes, BUT too many life changing experiences and life changing knowledge was crashed into my brain all at once. In addition, any damage, including potential brain damage, from my previous life was repaired during my exile. I was reborn, the old me is still alive, but he was almost drowned by all the new things I learned. So I decided to accept that and become the best I could be, instead of desperately trying to remain a person I no longer was."

Still looking at her, he continued. "No, if anything of the old Xander still exists, it has been absorbed by the new one. Changed, I like to consider it improved, but changed is perhaps the right word by my experience. I had to become a fighter, a teacher and a student to survive. The old me refused to learn or to improve without a struggle. The new me is constantly finding new things to learn and to study." He grinned. "So perhaps it is up to you to decide if your old Xander is still alive inside me or not."

Willow swallowed. "That's so not a Xander answer," she said.

He shrugged again. "As a Jedi advances, lies become very easy to see through and as a side effect, most Jedi find it more and more difficult to tell a direct lie as our skills grow. We see different paths of the future and can see the past, present and what can be. What the truth is becoming for us, is something that depends on your own point of view. So why lie?" Of course, one of the reasons why telling lies was more difficult was that most Jedi became aware of the fact that from a certain point of view, almost any lie could also be considered the truth.

Willow almost growled in irritation as her mind struggled through the facts Xander had given her. "I get it. Instead of lying, you are giving them the truth from that certain point of view that best suits what you wish them to know," she said in irritation. "Do ALL Jedi Masters do that?"

Xander grinned. "Indeed we do, more or less. Truth is a weapon and so is a lie. A Jedi Master's duty is to protect the innocents and bring peace and order. By knowingly talking truth as much as possible, the rare times a Jedi has to lie or stretch the truth in order to save life, we are believed."

He did not tell her that this was HIS idea that was now actively taught to the more experienced Jedi. Sure, most Jedi found a half truth to be more effective than a lie, but it had been his idea to make truth a weapon of choice. To teach Jedi that a lie was a dangerous and effective weapon ONLY if nobody believed a Jedi would ever lie.

Willow wanted to his strangle him, but then said: "That's brilliant." She then studied him. "Yes with a but, no with an if, and perhaps it is up to me." She walked up to him and gave him a hug. Slowly, he gave one back.

She started to cry as she felt his arms around her. It was HER Xander, but it was also a new person she didn't know, she could feel it. He had changed so much it was almost a new person, but the core of him, the truly important parts, they were Xander, her Xander. "It is you. Improved, more experienced, but it is my Xander."

She kept hugging him. "I want to get to know my new Xander," she said. Inside she almost yelled, 'Xander is dead, long live Xander.'  
He grinned, hugging her back. She no longer knew. She understood and believed. "That is great news, Willow. Would you also like to be my Jedi student together with Dawn?"

She gasped. "What? But?"

He looked down into her face, still hugging her. "You understand and respect me now. You also understand how serious I am with what I do." Xander could see the spark of light in her eyes. She would not do anything stupid in his class. That he felt sure off. Dawn on the other hand had finally gotten so spooked that she would keep herself under control. The sad part was that she had needed this catastrophe to learn the lesson. Normally he, as Jedi Master, would arrange a spooky lesson to give the student a scare to straighten them up, when needed.

He still had nightmares from the scare Luke –I am Evil- Skywalker had given him, but it was effective an effective lesson. Sadly Dawn had arranged herself her very own scare straight lesson, a far too terrible lesson for anybody. If she had only listened to his warning, if he only had warned her enough to make her understand.

**11. 11**

Knight no more. 11

Later

The ship was a treasure trove in Xander's eyes and since it belonged to the Republic, it was not a loss in his opinion. It contained more fuel than they could carry as well as ammunition, food and extra droids. A translator droid that could be useful for one, seeing as he'd lost his Protocol droid somewhere. (Read, he paid a Jawa to steal it.)

Jaina looked over the list of the stuff they found. "That's rather much Xander. What about our fighters?"

Xander looked up. "That X-wing of yours and Anakin's A-wing will have to be stuffed together." He was silent, contemplating. "It is going to be tight in the hangar with them when going in or out or if repairs have to be done. Both fighters have landing claws so if we're in a danger filled area, one can be docked on the outside. That way the droids can keep the fighter safely docked on the outside of the Enterprise and we get more cargo space, which we are going to need with what we found on the ship."

"Sweet, I found lots of weapons, personal weapon, blaster guns, concussion guns and even armor," Riley said

"Pack up the weapons and medication. Weapons we can use for trade and medication we could make use of ourselves, but fuel first. All our ships eat fuel." Xander said and looked at Jaina, hoping she had an idea on that.

Jaina responded, "Well, you did install a fuel converter onto the Enterprise, so in theory any material can be converted into fuel, low grade fuel which is not that effective, but still fuel. I say we focus on other objectives first and then load up the fuel."

Xander nodded. "Right, I had forgotten about that converter," he said.

Riley nodded. "It will be done," he said before walking off. Trained as a soldier, a warrior and a Force Ranger, Riley knew one thing. It was that you could never ever have enough weapons around.

Sitting on the side Willow turned to Xander and spoke "Um Xander, Dawn wanted to ask you something."

Xander nodded as he stood up and walked over to Dawn who stood like a shadow beside Buffy. "Hi Dawn. I'm sorry that I was so hard on you, but with great powers come the risk of making great mistakes."

She nodded. "Do you know how we can find our way home?" she whispered.

Xander kept smiling as he nodded. "I have a rough idea where our home is, but we will have to jump around a little first, testing my navigation between dimensions skills."

Dawn nodded. "I'm never going to use my powers again."

Xander snorted. "Too late, first, without your help finding home will be difficult, even impossible. Second, with your powers you can help and protect the innocent. All you have to do is not make a mistake."

Dawn sighed, "That's so easily said," she said, rolling her eyes.

Buffy grinned. "Sure it is. Just listen to me and Willow and you will be safe."

Xander snorted again. "Coff, Angel, Coff," he coughed in his hand, trying to look innocent.

Buffy snorted right back. "Mummy girl, hyena boy and the bug lady."

"Hey, never going to talk about bug lady," Xander said, trying to sound angry, instead of amused.

He could feel how Dawn was quickly pulled up from her depression. She was a lucky girl. From what Jessica had told him and the doctor droids had confirmed, she was one of the small numbers of humans who were natural born happy, just like there are those that are born with a defect making them suffer from constant depression. Dawn was suffering from a natural defect that made her more happy and optimistic than most humans. She could become depressed, sad and even feel suicidal when in emotional pain, but give her even the slightest chance and Dawn would bounce back like a rubber ball.  
Xander corrected himself. She probably would never suffer from that defect.

Dawn shivered. "I don't know if I can. I mean I killed hundreds of people. I'm not worthy of being a Jedi, I'm a monster," she said, clearly falling back towards depression again.

Oh' boy Xander said to himself. "That's not right. You are a good person Dawn and you made ONE simple mistake. Accidents happen. Now you know and now you remember." He hugged her, looking at Buffy. "Help"

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Dawn, we talked about it. It was just a terrible accident. It happens." She shivered inside, remembering what she had seen, but it was just as much Xander's fault. He could have let Dawn die, saving all of those people in the process.

It was the heroic action of Anakin that saved Xander and Buffy from having a crying Dawn standing beside them. The young man quickly got Dawn talking about other stuff while Xander and Buffy sneaked back to the table.

-KNM-

Days later

The cargo hold was filled with objects they had found. T-1000, Xander's big 2 meter tall cargo lifter, which looked like a big metallic skeleton, was a binary cargo lifting droid and it had been its work to lift the cargo into the cargo hold. It had worked harder than ever before in its existence.

Being a binary droid T-1000 had the imagination of a toaster and the creativity of a rock. It had no ability to complain or even feel the need to complaining. If you told T-1000 to jump off a cliff, it would happy follow your direction, but the rest of them were dead tired by the end of the day. Even R3 seemed tired. No brain, no pain, was a simple fact. Being stupid like a binary droid had its rewards, since T-1000 felt no pain and was not tired of the loading and lifting it had done.

Lexa sighed. "Man, I'm tired." she whined from her position, hanging from the left hand of T-1000. "Me too," Dawn complained while dangling from the droids right hand. "Forward march!" she ordered the droid.

"I so hate my sister," Buffy whined.

Willow giggled, "I think it's cute," she said.

Dawn, Lexa and Anakin were all only 15 years old, Chloe 16 and Rona 17 and Jaina 20. Sometimes she was shocked how young the crew of the Enterprise was.

Not that she was old herself. She was 21 years old, just like Xander and Buffy. Almost 22, seeing as she was four months older than Xander and five months older than Buffy, if she was correct.

Riley was the oldest, he was 22 years old if she was correct. He acted far older than he was some times. Willow was amused over him. Rona was sniffing around him, clearly marking her territory. Whenever she talked to Riley, Rona was soon to come around interrupting them. It was cute.

She was not so sure about what to think about the fact that Riley seemed to accept the younger girl's advancement, but she was of age according to some planets and human cultures.

Anakin, the last boy on the crew, was fun to watch. He never chased girls. They chased him. So far Chloe, Dawn and Lexa all were after his tail and what did the boy do? Treat them like princesses and be the perfect gentlemen.

She had asked Danni, since she was an empath, about whom Anakin really liked. The red skinned Zeltron giggled and explained the boy was confused. He liked, but was simultaneously intimidated by, girls with great physical strength. He liked girls with intelligence and abilities. Both Lexa and Dawn were slowly worming their way into his heart. Still, Chloe's intelligence made her a candidate as well and she was a great friend of his. Last Danni had explained the poor boy had discovered an older red haired girl that fascinated him.

Willow almost walked into a wall hearing that. Puppy love could be a cruel thing.

"What are you thinking about?" Buffy said, sitting down beside her friend who was blushing even as she read a book.

Willow started. "Me? Me thinking? No, I was I just thinking," she stuttered.

Buffy smiled. "Right, right and now spill it," she said. The two friends snuggled up on the monster sofa as they started to talk, giggling all the while.

"Have you seen how much Riley and Rona hang out together?" Willow whispered. Buffy answered: "No way, she's too young."

-KNM-

Nearby in the kitchen, Riley and Rona were amusing themselves by baking a cake.

Riley liked this hanging out with Rona. It was like having a younger sister. "Rona, do you think Buffy would be interested in a guy like me?" he asked.

Rona liked this hanging out with Riley. He was like an older brother to her. "Hmm. Perhaps? I could find out, if you'd like me to," she said with a smile. "Unless she's a lesbian, have you seen how much she hangs out with the red-haired girl?"

Riley nodded. "That's why I haven't asked her yet." He slowly started to smile. "But it they are together I can always hope they have the Zeltron attitude and are bisexual," he grinned.

Rona gasped. "O. YOU beast." She slapped him. "That's SO wrong," she said, giggling.

-KNM-

In the galley

Willow nodded from the sound. "He kissed her."

Buffy shook her head. "No, I think he slapped her ass or something, I could hear a slapping sound. They are SO doing it."

-KNM-

In the cockpit Xander pushed the last button on the startup sequence.

The Enterprise lifted of the dagger corvette and flew off into space.

It was time to find a planet to use as a base. They would need to find not only where they were, but also a good place to open a gate to another reality. A planet filled with life forms would be a better place as the contact with life itself would be improved.

Turning to the other side he grinned. "Right, take her off, Lexa," he said to his sister, letting her fly the ship while he used the Force to calculate a jump into hyperspace.

She grinned as she piloted the ship.

Behind them Jaina was helping Dawn handle the sensors and communications control, listening to anybody who might be sending hyper-transmissions nearby.

-KNM-

Five days later

The green pine wood forest was a perfect hide out for the Enterprise as they had landed on the alien world. Currently Xander was tutoring (or torturing, depending on who you asked) Willow in the art of Force control, meditating and slowing down your own breath more and more.

The forest and the strange sounds made a nice distraction for her in Xander's opinion. Each strange bird's sound made her flinch and she had to start from the beginning again.

Danni was helping Dawn with Xander overseeing them. She was actually quite good as a teacher. In Xander's opinion Jaina might know more about the Force and was stronger, but Danni just knew how to teach.

He felt Lexa arriving and the strange spooky presence of what should be Riley looking at them. "Do tell what you have seen Riley, Lexa." he asked.  
The effect the black spice had made on Riley made him difficult to sense in the Force and even if you sensed his presence, knowing where he was standing was impossible. You just knew that he was standing within your ability to detect him.

Xander of course had recently found a way around that. He could hear Riley, the sounds he made, and therefore he could detect him. "Do keep on training while we talk Willow," he said.

Willow pouted, "It is hard, and you're distracting me," she whined, but kept training.

Beside her Dawn was trying to balance on her fingers, using the Force to keep her balanced.

"The artifact was activated today, some machine arrived and the guards got spooked." Riley explained.

Xander hummed. Since they had arrived the locals had become nervous. They knew something strange was out in the woods and the local dictators, if you could call them that were ignoring it. "Well, I'll go see. Pull back to the ship for now."

He mused. "Something is coming through the artifact and I don't believe it would be wise for us to get involved in a local argument." Both he and Dawn needed to get accustomed to this reality before they could open a gate again and Dawn needed more lessons in control, before he would even dare letting her try open a gate, even with him.

He frowned a bit. "You better create a security zone around the ship."

Riley nodded. "Yes sir." He grinned as he moved out. It was time to put up the security sensors, tiny spike like objects which worked as passive sensors traps. They were difficult to detect and standard security in any military organization.

From experience he knew that Xander had the knowledge to bypass them, but his skill in deploying them was appealing. "Come on Lexa, let me show you how to put out the security sensors." Out of the Jedi on the ship only Anakin had any idea how to use them.

Lexa followed as she had decided it would be good if she knew more about being sneaky.

Xander turned back to Willow and Dawn as he continued the torture.

Suddenly Jaina's arms were hugging him as she kissed him on his gills. He shivered from the feeling; it was 20% discomfort and 80 % pleasure. Who knew gills are that sensitive? "I have done the computer link up on the energy missile launcher now, time for you to do the rest honey."

Xander nodded. "Thanks. Keep an eye out on them," he said as he walked inside. Seeing Buffy sitting lazy in the sofa he grinned as he poked her on the shoulder. "Yo. I'm going to install a weapon system. Want to learn more?" he asked.

Buffy blinked in confusion then nodded. If anybody would have said she would become interested in mechanics, she would have laughed at the joke, but here she was, curious about electronics, mechanics and gears. It had all started that time when the Enterprise was broken and a desperate Xander tried to make emergency repairs and more or less forced her to help him. The feeling she had when she not only saved life, but also had re-created something with her own hands was incredible. It showed her that her hands where more than just weapons of destruction.

As she rushed into the room to change into her mechanic uniform, Buffy felt joy about having more things to learn.

Xander blinked at the reaction. If anybody would have told him that Buffy Summers would find mechanical and electronic installation interesting to do and to learn, he would have called them insane.

She was learning with a dog like stubbornness. When she had a hard time understanding something sometimes, she somehow managed to learn it by pure stubbornness and by refusing to give up. Willow was learning to use a computer fast, that was true, but the pure I'M NOT GIVING UP attitude Buffy was using had made her learn use the computers and even small programming skills faster than Willow had.

Combine that with the lessons in talking and reading Basic, modern history, alien races and other necessary lessons, that Buffy now was able to take apart a swoop and rebuild it again was a miracle.

Willow always said that somewhere deep, deep inside Buffy was a brilliant girl hiding. A girl just as smart as Willow herself was or even smarter.

Xander did not believe in that. His own Jedi skills said that Buffy was not that smart. Of course Jaina said that was NOT evidence as he could easily have missed her genius. Being a Force guardian, she was mostly immune to mind effect powers or mind reading powers.

When Buffy got it into her head that she would learn something or was interested in learning she WOULD and COULD learn something. Buffy would not let small things like the reality that she was too stupid to learn it limit her own learning curve.

If Xander was anything, it was impressed and scared of the speed his friend, the bottle blond friend, was learning. Thinking back he knew it was not a new thing with Buffy. In Sunnydale anything she wanted or needed to learn, she had managed to master at record speed.

-KNM-

Minutes later

Xander was sitting on the floor of the engine room, surrounded by cables and wires. Power couplings and parts of a missile reloading mechanism were all around him as he looked at the holographic blue print that showed him what he had to do.

"HEY that's not fair, you were supposed to wait for me," Buffy whined.

Xander rolled his eyes. "There are two energy torpedo launchers we're going to install. One turret left top side and the other right top side at the back of the ship. This is just the left one."

Buffy blinked. "Oh. You're going to link them in a battery then?" she asked. A battery is two or more weapon systems of the same type that are linked together. A turret, even a quad turret, counts as one weapon system. The Enterprise's two quad heavy laser cannons worked independently from each other. They could be linked up as a battery if needed, like when he had no gunner and had to fire the two quads from the cockpit.

Xander nodded. "Yes. I could have put them together in ONE turret. It would have saved space, but one accidental hit and they could both be destroyed, but with them on different sides and on separate turrets…" Buffy nodded. "That will not happen."

She frowned, holding up something that looked like a spark plug. It was a power conductor. "What is this doing in the turrets ejection system?"

Xander answered, "Energy torpedoes are a simple charged battery that are charged up until they reach terminal energy, loaded and then fired away. On target they explode. As the missile itself has no real explosive charge, you can actually decide HOW big an explosion it is going to be by how much you charge it."

"Oho." Buffy said, looking at the spark plugy.

Xander continued. "An energy torpedo is a missile that acts like laser cannons or laser cannons that acts like a proton torpedo. It is a fire and forget like cannon. It is able to penetrate energy shields like a missile or a torpedo would. It is slower than laser cannons, but faster than any torpedo or missile is. The Energy torpedo is ejected by a mass drive."

Buffy looked at the ejection system, "That's a mass drive?" She started to connect the magazine torpedo feeding mechanism while Xander kept explaining.

"Of course, thanks to its strange nature the energy torpedo has the weaknesses of both missiles and laser cannons. If the target moves out of the way, you miss. If the target is too far away, you miss. The enemy can shoot down you missile or trap it in a tractor beam field, if they know it is coming." He picked up part of the targeting computer and started to install it. "It also fires slower than laser cannons, but faster than a proton or concussion launcher. Not by much, but still faster, and lastly, unlike a Laser Cannon and exactly like a torpedo or a missile, it is easy to run out of ammunition and the ammunition is expensive. Laser cannons can keep on firing as long as your ship has fuel and fuel is cheap."

Buffy sighed. "It sounds like a weapon that has too many drawbacks," she said to him, helping him connect the computers small sensor disk.

Xander nodded. "Yes, but it's smaller than cannons and cannons are smaller than a proton or concussion launcher is."

Buffy blinked as she grinned, "So it's a tiny deadly OMF in this weapon?" she asked.

Xander just nodded. "Yeah, the energy torpedo itself is the size of your fist, Buffy." He focused the Force and pulled a fist size bullet like object into his hand, then tossed it into Buffy hand. "That's the torpedo itself."

Buffy swallowed. "Is it dangerous? Could it explode?" she asked.

Xander shook his head. "No, unless energy is fed into it, you could use it as a hammer right now." Seeing Buffy was about to try, he quickly interjected "NO. You could hurt it, it's fragile."

Buffy started to giggle. "You scared me," she said as Xander kept screwing in the computer. She picked up her pencil marker and started to write on the energy torpedo. Fear my tiny size.


	5. Chapter 12 and 13

**Chapter 12**

Later

Outside, the night had fallen, and most of the gang was relaxing. Xander was engaged in some pre-resting activities together with Danni and Jaina, while the rest of the gang was just grateful the ship was sound proof. Especially Anakin, as he did not want to hear his sister Jaina screaming Xander or Danni's name in orgasm again. It was just not something he wanted to experience.

Buffy sighed from her place in the monster-sofa (made from the jaw bone of an alien monster), as she rolled her shoulder and put down the holographic tech manual. "I miss Joyce or Sherashilifilli 5 or whatever that place was named."

Dawn, spread out on the monster sofa using Buffy's legs as a cushion, nodded. "Me too," she said, almost whining.

On the other sofa by the corner, Willow nodded. "It's sad Buffy, I miss your mom more than my own," she said in a small voice.

Rona blinked, "What, were they bad parents?" she asked Willow.

Willow glared at the roof as she considered the question. "I don't know. Mom and Dad are child psychologist, experts on the field of child caring, at least that's what the newspapers, TV-shows and books they wrote claim, but they were never home. They never hired anybody that would hurt or abuse me, at least. Perhaps in theory they were good parents, they always wrote about the importance of child parent interaction. How the parents should be there and know their child, be a part of the child's life." She stopped glaring at the roof and looked at Rona with an amused smile.

"They had good advice for parents in the books they wrote. I just wish they had listened to their own advice sometimes. I wish they had listened to me when  
I was 6 and tried to tell them about Xander's parents." All of them knew about the difference between Xander's and Lexa's version of Jessica and Tony Harris. It was like the difference between the light and the dark side of the force.

Buffy sighed, leaning her hands against the fangs on the sofa. "I think it could be the Hellmouth. Strange things did always happen in Sunny-D. What if the Hellmouth affects peoples' minds and makes them do bad things or become bad people?"

There was silence at that.

"What about you, Buffy, or Willow and my brother? None of you are bad." Lexa said. All right, Xander was born in alternate realities, but genetically they were related and could have been brother and sister, if she had a brother who became genetically modified. According to Lexa and Xander they where brother and sister. The rest of reality would just have to accept that.

There was silence again.

"Um, Buffy moved to Sunnydale when she was 15-16 and she was already a Slayer then. If there is a become bad effect, it might not have affected her." Willow was silent, trying to find more reasons to defend Buffy's theory. "And I spent many summers outside Sunny-D. It could also be the reason why I'm…" she was silent, throwing a begging look at Dawn.

"Shy and nervous," Dawn helped her.

Willow smiled. "Thanks Dawn."

Riley sat in the corner and listened to the conversation, fascinated. He would not have said thank you if somebody called him shy and nervous. "You are not shy or nervous Willow. You just don't put much trust in yourself unless you have friends around you. That's just silly, you're a smart girl," he finished.

The girls all of them started to glare at him.

He raised his eyebrows. "What? It's logical. Her mom and dad constantly left her alone, thinking books and fucking conferences to be more important than their own child. You probably had a long string of nannies and nurse maids, correct?" He saw Willow nodding as she paled. "Bet you can speak Spanish too," he said.

Once more Willow nodded. How could he know that her parents hired illegal immigrants?

Riley continued. "School books became you friends since they'd never betray you. You were bullied and had perhaps one or two friends who protected you against the bullies who were angry over how smart you where. That is a text book example of a person who feels the need to be loved and cared for.  
Without that support, you fall down trembling, like a house of cards," he smirked.

On the sofa Willow was trembling as tears started to fall. "Why did they not love me? They always left for Las-Vegas, Hong-Kong or France."

Riley swallowed. "Um. Help, she's crying."

The other girls just glared at him as Lexa, Chloe, Dawn and Buffy hurried over and hugged her.

"You are so stupid. How could you do that?" Rona hissed angrily at Riley.

"What? I thought we were trying to analyze her background. I just tried to help," he looked around and seeing Anakin walking in he quickly formed a sign symbol with his hand, which translated into – hostile Female territory, need evacuation- It was a symbol he, Xander and Anakin had worked out.  
Anakin blinked, then nodded to himself as he accidently slammed open the door. "Riley, Sith spit, didn't Xander ask you to make sure the targeting system was compatible with the old system?" he lied.

Riley quickly snapped his fingers. "Damn, I forgot about that. I have to do it or he'll be mad."

Anakin nodded. "I'll help you. You know, he said it should be done by tomorrow or our asses are fried."

Riley nodded as he rushed out.

In the galley Willows tears slowly dried. "Is it only me or does Xander push Anakin and Riley around too much?" she asked.

The others fell silent and the anger they felt at Riley vanished as they considered the question.

Chloe answered, "You know, you're right. The moment we're having an important discussion, there's more work Xander is forcing them to do."

Rona nodded. "We're lucky that we're girls, Xander's a real slave driver to the boys."

Lexa was silent as she considered the situation and then the times new work had come up. "Unless they're using the slave driver Xander routine as an excuse to get out from a room full of angry girls."

Slowly the girls considered the situation and they started to giggle as they plotted revenge.

In the sensor compartment (The right shoulder on the ship between the front maneuver thruster and the cockpits neck.) there was the missile fire station where Riley and Anakin relaxed as they opened a can of beer and started to work. They were safe from the fury of the females again.

(Riley was drinking beer. Anakin, as a 15 year old, was drinking fruit juice. Like Riley he was drinking it directly from the can, like a man, no sissy cups or drinking glasses.)

"Aaaah, now that feels good," Riley said.

Anakin nodded. "You said it." He grinned. Now they just had to find a way to not only get the new system to work in combination with the concussion missiles, but also to put up a second fire station in case they had access to more gunners. The two friends grinned as they started to work.

Riley was silent for a moment. "By the way. What girl do you REALLY like?"

Anakin blinked. "What do you mean?" he asked.

Riley answered with a smile, "Dawn, Lexa and Chloe. They're all hanging around you."

Anakin swallowed nervously. "I don't know. I started liking Chloe, but then Dawn and Lexa came in and now all the emotions are all mixed up inside of me."

Riley nodded. "I know the feeling. I was your age once too." He shook his head.

"Does it get any better with age?" Anakin asked.

Riley snorted. "Hey, I'm not that much older than you and no, not yet anyway. I'm still an emotionally confused guy," he said with amusement. If he were just after sex, he knew what he would seek out. Twi'lek girls, what they could do with their flexible body made sex just incredible, but he wanted love and more understanding.

-KNM-

Next morning

Breakfast was always a noisy affair on the Enterprise, a constant babble from both the girls and boys. Arguments over food, giggling and laughing resounded in the room. A stranger might have thought that it was a family eating together and not a crew eating with its captain, and they wouldn't be wrong, since they were a family in all the important ways.

R3 burst inside and peeped a warning.

Xander sighed as he put down the sandwich he'd just made. Banta-Ham, tomato slices, Onoro fruits, some strange blue butter and more Banta-ham, all squashed together between two slices of bread. It was a sandwich the length of an adults arm and the number of tomatoes was his full share that he could use. Because of the limited number of tomatoes they had, they had rationed the share of tomatoes they could eat each week.

He looked around. Buffy, Willow, Dawn, Lexa, Jaina and especially Lexa were eyeing his sandwich.

"If I put it down, you guys are going to steal it," he said.

The girls looked angry. "NO way" Lexa said. "Why do you say such awful things about us?" she asked, hiding the mustard. Xander always forgot to put mustard on his sandwiches.

Buffy, Willow and Jaina all agreed, that he was being completely unfair. Where was the mustard?

R3 sounded irritated. The alarm was ringing. He gave his owner an electric shock.

"Fine, but I'm not leaving my sandwich." Xander said as he walked into the cockpit with his sandwich still in his hand. R3 sounded depressed as he led the way. Now he would have to clean the floor of bread crumbs again.

Jaina sighed. "It looks like he is learning," she said.

Danni grinned as she finished off Xander's cup of chocolate, another luxury they hadn't that much of and had to ration. "Ahaa, I love chocolate," she said.

The others looked at her.

Jaina grinned. "But he has not learned enough yet."

The other started to giggle.

In the cockpit Xander felt irritated. He'd forgotten his cup of chocolate.

Pushing the sensor activation and seeing the readout, he was less than happy. The natives, a rather primitive bunch, ruled by an advanced and dictatorial bunch playing gods, were pissed off.

The kind of angry that made an army move.

Fighters were flying in the air.

He walked out from the cockpit.

"Somebody has angered the natives. An army is moving around the area, searching for something. Now, if anybody did anything yesterday that could have angered the locals, do tell me. I'm not going to be angry. But it looks like the army is searching for something in the same mountains we're currently hiding in."

They all looked at each other.

Riley was glaring at the roof. "I… I did nothing. Feel kind of disappointed actually."

"Buffy and I went for a short walk, but we were going out in the wilderness. NOT near civilization." Rona said.

R3 and R6 argued with R8 if they should tell Xander that for once it was somebody other than him or his crew that pissed of the natives or if they should just stay silent and enjoy the show.

Xander nodded. "Me and both my wives were resting. So we're innocent this time," he looked at Lexa.

Jaina said, "Yes, we were resting, so we couldn't have done anything to anger them."

"I don't think what we did could be called resting, but it was fun," Danni corrected them.

Lexa blushed from hearing what Danni said, "I stayed inside."

Before he had the chance to glare at Dawn she quickly said, "I fell asleep on the monster-sofa." She turned to Danni. "Too much information by the way."

Xander frowned. "It's supposed to be a love seat."

"Um, a love-seat has room for 2 people, not 3 and 25 % extra," Buffy said smiling.

"It's a bit big, I know. The jaw bone was too big and cutting it up felt wrong, but I was planning to make a love seat and that's what it is. Perfect for me and the girls I love," Xander said, looking at both Jaina and Danni.

Lexa made a puking sound and Anakin yelled, "Too much information, the pain ahh the pain. That's my sister, have mercy." Then he and Lexa started to giggle and laugh.

R6 finally beeped out information. Xander listened carefully, using the force to translate. "I see. Looks like we're innocent, somebody else pissed them of," he said in confusion. "That's kind of rude or something."

All of them blinked their eyes.

"That's sounds kind of farfetched. How could somebody anger the natives before we did?" Riley asked. The amount of time they spend sneaking around, investigating, even stealing stuff to inspect them, and now some other guys pissed them off before they did.

Anakin nodded. Life was just unfair.

Jaina looked at him "Are we in danger?" she asked.

Xander gave her the information.

She nodded. "Right. Anakin, finish up the food, we're going to have our fighters on standby."

Xander nodded to himself. "Danni, Buffy, Dawn, Rona and Riley, you're with me. Chloe, Willow and Lexa, you keep the ship on standby. R3, you help them."  
He looked around. "Get your armor on, now. The natives and the peace breakers are moving here and anybody pissing of the natives is most likely an idiot or somebody worthy of help. Most likely both," Xander finished off.

The droid nodded as it rolled out.

Riley grinned. Sweet. The natives were pissed off and they get to see some action.

**13. 13**

A short moment later

Dressed in his armor Xander waited.

"Now where are the girls?" he sighed. They should be able to put their armor on in 20 seconds flat.

Finally, after four minutes, they arrived.

Jaina's armor was a darker, more female version of his own, while Anakin's armor was a dark blue with a soft blue front. It was clear that he had let his grandfather be the inspiration for the armor's torso protection and battle gloves. (Grandfather =Vader) Neither of them would be going with Xander though and they were already climbing in their star-fighters, the X-Wing and A-Wing.

Danni had decided to create an armor which was dark red on the back with softer red-pink on the front. Otherwise it was identical to his. Nobody could mistake Danni and Jaina for a male in that armor.

The armor Buffy, Rona and Riley used was simpler but just as effective, and had been made by Xander and Anakin. It was a simple armored body glove of flexible material with a hard helmet and neck protection. Riley also used adapted shell armor over the torso.

Dawn walked out. She, unlike Xander, Jaina, Anakin and Danni, had yet to build her own Jedi armor, enchanted with the Force, so instead she used one just like Buffy's, simple yet effective. She felt foolish and clumsy wearing it though.

Xander sighed. "Finally, you should have been able to put the armor on in less than 20 seconds. If this was a life or death situation, I... " he stopped. They were all mimicking him. "You aren't even listening, are you? I care about you. Putting on the armor quickly can mean the difference between life and death. I just want you to be safe," he said, hanging his head.

The girls sighed, as they felt guilty about taking so much time and making fun of Xander. It was kind of sweet, the way he kept nagging about it.

A short round of "We're sorry," later they were off.

Buffy smiled and caressed her own swoop as she piloted it forward. It was painted blood red with flames on the side. She just hoped that Dawn wouldn't go crazy in hers.

-KNM-

A short flight later

Explosions and the sound of gun fire made them land their swoops.

Below them in the forest they could see the army of snake warriors marching through, driving a small gang of humans in front of them. The electro-binoculars showed Xander a surprise. "Riley, take a look at that," he said.

Riley nodded as he looked at the image. "Those are US uniforms and weapons."

Rona asked: "What's a US soldier doing on an alien world?"

"Fighting," Buffy answered in a grim tone.

Xander sighed as he considered the natives, strange humans, many of who were actually near humans who lived in a symbiosis with a worm like life form. Those near-humans had all the technology while the normal humans seemed to be very low-tech.

It was a slave using society that worshiped gods.

"Unless we do something, they're going to get killed. The natives are surrounding them." Riley said and looked around. "And the second group of the natives, the group that's ambushing the US guys, isn't that far from the ship."

Xander sighed. "Right, we rescue the US guys then." He pushed on the transmitter. "Jaina, I like a clear sky, time for you to hunt. Be careful. Tell Lexa and Chloe to warm up the Enterprise, we're bringing guests."

With that he de-activated the radio. "Danni, Rona and Buffy, you're with me. Riley, Dawn, keep us covered from the rear." He gave Riley a look and nodded towards Dawn, his meaning clear: keep an eye out on her.

He then held out his arms, "Rona, Buffy, give me a hug. Danni, use Force speed and jump and try to keep up." The ambush had started already and the US guys were hiding in cover, as one of the natives, who had lots of bad guy vibrations coming from him, screamed at them.

Danni nodded. Buffy looked confused, but followed Rona as she hugged Xander close to his body.

Then he lifted up.

Using Force flight he carried himself and both girls down closer to the impending ambush. Danni had no problems keeping up in this terrain, her Force speed and Force jump was faster than Xander's Force flight, especially as he was carrying two girls.

-KNM-

A soft landing later

"You can let go of me now Buffy," Xander said softly.

Buffy swallowed. "Never play Superman again."

"I'll try not to. Ok?" Xander said.

She nodded.

Rona looked down. There were around 40 near-humans with staff-like disruptor weapons and one bad guy, if the feeling he gave of was anything to go by, dressed in gold and soft silks. He looked like something from an Egyptian movie.

Xander looked around. "Right, Buffy, Rona, keep the distance. Danni and I are going down to the middle for a talk," he said as he jumped, followed by Danni.

-KNM-

At the US guys hiding/firing place.

"Pink armor, she has a PINK armor. We're being rescued by the Pink ranger and her friend, the Batman," the leader complained.

"Colonel," the female warrior interrupted.

"No, Captain," he said. "Some of us need to step down on the drugs unless I'm seeing things."

"Colonel O'Neil, you are not seeing things. I too am seeing a girl dressed in pink-red armor and a man with a black armor and a cloak."

The Colonel sighed. "Joy, we're going to see the crazy guys get shot down. Captain, prepare to run."

The voice of the crazy dude interrupted him. He was speaking English. So it was a crazy Power-Ranger/batman fan-girl/fan-boy out there.

"US guys, you should know that there's an ambush moving towards us from behind," the man said.

Colonel O'Neil snorted. "US guys? Is he talking to us? He has to be talking to us. Hey, it's Colonel O'Neil, not US guy," he yelled back.

"We have to do something," the Captain said.

O'Neil sighed and checked his weapon, right. "Right, Daniel you stay here and give us cover," he said, standing up and aiming his weapon at the Goa'uld and the Jaffa warrior. Carter, as always even more courageous as she was smart, followed him. Considering that she and Daniel were both near genius level smart and absolutely brilliant in all their areas of expertise and more, it was scary that somebody like her could be braver than she was smart.

Teal'c followed them both.

Xander looked as the Colonel joined him and Danni. He was followed by a female captain and a big dark skinned near-human, like the ones they were fighting.

The near-humans and the fake pharaoh looked at them with surprise. The fact that none of them carried weapons they could see also made them nervous. Both he and Danni had their lightsabers drawn, but they hadn't seen them in use yet.

Xander turned to them. "He and his team are under my protection. I suggest you leave and return home," he said, putting as much strength in his voice as he could while using mind affect.

O'Neil blinked. Even he wanted to return home.

About half of the nearby Jaffa started to walk home. When the Goa'uld roared out "Jaffa Kree," they returned, shame and shock burning in their eyes.

Xander sighed. "So the near-humans are under the command of the fake pharaoh. They're strong minded."

Teal'c nodded, "They are Jaffa warriors. They follow their fake god, the Goa'uld."

Xander nodded, "Right."

Then the Goa'uld screamed out, "Surrender now or you die."

O'Neil said quietly, "Listen Bat-boy, we distract them, you and pink-ranger run."

"It is Xander actually, Jedi Master Xander," Xander said.

"O for crying out loud." O'Neil cried out, making them all jump. "Great, wave your lightsaber. Batboy is so going to help us. Perhaps Superman can help us too, if we ask you nicely?" He hated Trekkies and Star Wars fans. Anime fans were just as bad, he couldn't understand them, they were more alien then Teal'c and how the heck did a fan-boy end up in space?

Xander blinked. The Colonel knew about lightsabers and what the heck was Star Wars? "It is Xander, not Batboy, and the lightsabers do help," he said, activating both blades at the same time as he moved forward.

Creating an illusion of danger, he pushed out telekinetically, making tiny rocks and stones fly up in the air as he walked forward. "I said, return home now."

The Goa'uld pharaoh screamed out an order and disruptor bolts started to fly towards them. Before anybody had a chance to dive for cover, Xander parried the bolts. Dancing around in form three Soresu, he parried each and every bolt coming towards the Captain and the Colonel, and Danni took care of what was outside his range.

Xander stopped moving as he looked at the near-humans, the Jaffa and their Goa'uld Pharaoh. "Leave or die." He hoped the bad guy would be smart.

He wasn't.

The order to attack came directly.

Jack O'Neil blinked. "That's not possible. Alright, admit it, one of you guys drugged me," he said to his team.

Carter swallowed. "Sir, we're seeing it too."

Daniel nodded. "It is like in the movie, but with weird armor." He frowned as he considered the armor of the stormtroopers, "Ok, so maybe not that weird an armor."

Teal'c agreed. "Indeed."

On the hill Riley and Dawn opened fire. From nearby, Buffy and Rona started to shoot also. Buffy was using a big light repeater, an automatic heavy rifle. Rona used her Luxuran Penetrator and a Tension carbine she wanted to test. The Tension carbine used tractor beams to vibrate the target apart. A strong person would be bruised, but could escape the beams hold. If unable to escape the beam, it would start ripping asunder the skin and bone inside the body, then destroying soft organs.

Rain of dead came on the Jaffa warriors who were trying to ambush them.

Xander and Danni dived in among the Jaffa warriors, being careful not to kill and inflicting only arm and leg wounds and damage that would be easy to replace (by the standards and technologies they were used to, anyway).

Colonel O'Neil gabbed at them. "Hey, watch where you spread the body parts, will ya," he said in shock.

The Goa'uld roared out as he activated his hand device, sending Danni flying back. The red pink armored girl spun around in the air as she used the Force to get her balance back.

Xander returned the favor by sending a as strong and focused Force push as he could.

A splashing sound came from the Goa'uld's shoulder as it turned in to a jelly like substance.

Xander stood still a second, gathering his strength. "Leave now, your leader is dead," he said, pushing out with the Force.

He blinked in surprise as a big snake like worm crawled out of the dead body.

Quickly he captured the worm. "What is this thing?" he said in awe.

The Jaffa were shocked and did not know what to do. Their god was dead. Finally one of them screamed out the order to return to base and get more warriors, as revenge would be theirs.

Xander shrugged as he used the Force to scan the worm in his hand. "It's sentient," he said, still looking at the worm.

O'Neil walked closer carefully, with a pistol ready to fire at the snake, just in case. "That's the Goa'uld. They are parasites who take over a human host, mind and body. They also like to believe that they're gods."

Xander nodded, distracted as he felt inside the worm. Its capacity for memory was incredible, but its mind was simple in other areas and it truly was as evil as they come.

He closed his fist, crushing the worm in his armored hand. "Whatever." He waved his hand, making his and Danni's swoop come down the hill. With a tiny telekinetic push they where gliding down on their repulsors.

He did the same with Rona and Buffy.

"Let's move out." He turned to the American soldiers. "The artifact is surrounded and I for one do not relish the idea of mass murder. So I offer you an alternate route of escape."

O'Neil was confused. Whatever, whoever these nuts were, they knew their stuff, whatever the stuff was.

"Sam, Daniel, Teal'c what is your opinion?" he asked.

Captain Samantha Carter swallowed. "I... I think we should follow them for now and see what they have to offer."

Daniel nodded. "This is fascinating, the technology. That is a real lightsaber. Both parried staff weapons and..."

Teal'c interrupted, "Indeed, perhaps they are what they claim?"

"O' come on, Star Wars is so fiction," Jack said.

Xander ignored them for now, but he was curious about this Star Wars thing. "Right, the Enterprise is coming to pick us up," he said.

Jack O'Neil sighed. No way, a Star Wars and a Star Trek fan boy with illusion of madness and with the actual ability that made his madness become reality. How could this day get any weirder?

Unless of course, he actually had the Enterprise or the Falcon in his back pocket, that would gave him the rest.

-KNM-

A short moment later a roar of power full engines filled the air as the Enterprise landed on the nearby hill.

"That's a turtle. They are flying around in a turtle," Jack said, rolling his eyes. "What's next? Transformers? O' no, I forgot they already have Rangers."

Riley frowned, walking up to O'Neil. "Is there anything wrong with me being a Ranger?" he asked, intimidating. He was rather proud of being a Force Ranger, helping the Jedi, serving as a soldier of peace.

Jack swallowed, "Um no." Damn, he looked at the black armored man. Damn. Pink ranger and black ranger and all of them are nuts, nuts with a starship, flying bikes and working lightsabers.

George Lucas would so sue them.

The pink ranger interrupted. "You should be happy that Xander did not hear you insult his ship," she said in quite an angry voice. "The last person who did that...They never did find his body parts." And that was the truth, since it had been an enemy pilot inside a starfighter during space combat. Xander blew him up during the battle.

Jack sighed even as he whined to himself over the madness. He watched the armored mad guys put the flying bikes inside the ship as quickly as it landed. (It did land a bit clumsily.) Whatever or whoever these nutcases were, they were professionals. He could see that from the speed with which they were loading up the turtle and the black ranger, as he had started to call the guy the pink ranger had called Riley, moved, talked and acted like a military specialist.

It was green-yellow ranger that he had the difficulty of getting a clue off. He moved like a fighter, not like a soldier, but he talked like a soldier. Yet there was something about him that felt like a priest.

Jack O'Neil sighed as his team followed the nut cases into the flying turtle named Enterprise, being careful not to insult the thing again.

Captain Carter was in awe. That ship broke the laws of gravity in its flight, a clear indication of it having an anti-gravity engine. It was a high-tech ship. The weapons on the top and bottom showed her it was most likely a long range fighter or a war ship, like a landing ship. Then there were the weapons the weird strangers were using. Lightsabers, an impossible weapon, yet there they were. Her brilliant mind quickly came to the conclusion it was most likely a sword shaped energy shield and not a Laser/Light formed sword that made the blade of the lightsaber.

Second were the big energy-pistols and rifles they were packing. Plasma weapons, the burns mark indicated that, but how high was the temperature of the plasma? It was simple ionized particles, which had been charged up from an electron rich gas in a bolt that hit the target and disrupted the atomic structure, causing it to heat up quickly. In the SF community it was called a blaster or maybe they were weapons that used fusion technology to synthesize stellar plasma. That could be the reason all of them were using body armor, to protect them against gamma radiation.

For a moment she considered the idea that they did have lightsabers like in the movie. So, perhaps they had blaster weapons and not plasma weapons after all. Her radiation pin didn't indicate any unusual Gamma radiation, so it was most likely a blaster weapon they used. On the other hand, they did seem to have super technology, so who knew.

Daniel Jackson was in awe. Some of the girls were talking in a completely alien language and the writing he spotted on a hatch was in strange symbols. It reminded him of the Aurebesh script used in the movie. He snored out in amusement. Occam's razor -All other things being equal, the simplest solution is the best-

Daniel frowned to himself as he entered the ship. They claim to be Jedi and used Force like abilities and lightsabers - check.

They had Star Wars like script on the wall and the language they spoke had many strange grammatical forms - check.

They had Star Wars like weapons - check.

A Star Wars like ship - check.

Colonel Jack O'Neil wasn't going to like this. Never mind what General Hamond would say.

Slowly Daniel started to smile as he walked into the galley of the ship.

Carter looked at him. "You think they're real, don't you?" she whispered. He nodded to her. She fell silent, thinking about the strange evidence and other things they had seen so far in space.

"What the? Don't tell me you like to hunt big monsters?" Jack said, pointing at the sofa. He tried to move towards the cockpit, but black ranger just looked at him and aimed his gun almost in his direction. It was one of the girls, Rona, who answered him. "Nope, that was just a monster that interrupted Captain Xander when he was fighting a bounty hunter. Poor monster got both of them angry."

"Impressive," Teal'c said. "I would suggest we do not anger these people."

But Jack was speechless as pink ranger removed her helmet. A red skinned red-pinked haired human looking alien showed her face.

"Hi, I am Jedi Knight Danni, Xander's wife," she said in a happy voice.

"I'm never going to call a Native American a redskin again," Colonel O'Neil said to himself. Not that he ever did things like that to begin with. Then he really looked around as he sat down on a sofa. They had tomatoes growing everywhere. "Tomatoes?" He noticed that Xander had just walked inside the cockpit, followed by Danni.

The girl called Buffy sat down on the other side quickly. "You say to-mah- toh and I say to-may-toh," she said with a grin.

Jack nodded, "Tomato. Why are there tomatoes growing everywhere?"

Buffy rolled her eyes, "Because of the ketchup, of course."

Jack nodded, "Of course, the ketchup. Why didn't I realize that?" he said, slowly turning to his team. "They're not nuts. They're completely insane."

Daniel grinned as he cornered Danni, asking question about her people, and followed her into the cockpit. He soon walked out, looking a bit frustrated. Then a girl walked out of the cockpit. No, not a girl, a child not a day over 16, if that even.

Looking around he noticed that Buffy looked early 20, if that.

The same did the red skinned pink ranger.

They had been saved by children. "O for goodness sake. They let children have cool toys like this nowadays and I have NO toys at all," he said, waving his arms around.

The girl who had exited the cockpit waved her hand and said she was Chloe before turning to Rona. "To our posts, up and down," she said before turning towards the gunner well.

Rona nodded as she hurried into the other one.

Carter blinked. "Up and down, what are they talking about?"

Willow answered her, "The upper and the lower gun turret. UP and DOWN. Rona is up and Chloe is down," she explained.

Carter nodded. That made sense at least.

The ship speeded off into the sky.

It was a remarkably soft ride.

-KNM

Added Disclaimer: I also don't own anything regarding Star Gate, which is kinda sad because if I would, we wouldn't have to live with the poor replacement for Jack.


	6. Chapter 14 and 15

**Chapter 14**

Later

A strange sound was heard around the ship, the doors were clamping shut and a warning bell was ringing.

"What is that?" Daniel asked, worried.

Jack shrugged. "No idea".

"I do not know Daniel Jackson," Teal'c said.

Carter looked around. "The crew doesn't look worried," she said.

Buffy rolled her eyes. "It's just the hangar doors opening and letting our fighters inside."

Jack blinked, "No way. This ship is WAY too small to have fighters."

Sitting nearby Riley grinned, "Only two star-fighters. The Enterprise is a former cargo ship rebuilt into the best pocket carrier in the galaxy. She has taken out military ships four times her size." he said, smiling.

With that another pair of kids walked in. A girl, not a day over 19, although Jaina was in fact 20, and Anakin, another kid, Jack froze. A child, if that boy was even 16, he was a monkey's uncle. He turned to black ranger who had removed his helmet and was now standing by the wall, relaxed, with a pair of sunglasses on. "So, you let kids fly around in military ships?"

Riley smiled back. "Whoever said this was a military ship?" He then waved around his arms. "Besides, whoever said these girls and Anakin are children? None of them had any other choice than to grow up or die, until Xander came along anyway. He saved some of us from slavery and gave us work, an education, a home and a family. Others he just gave a home to, made them part of his family." He still remembered the day in the slave mine when Xander had saved him.

He removed the sunglasses. The pitch black of his eyes made them looked like big black holes in his face. "See my eyes? A slaver captured me and put me in a slave mine were they were digging after Carsunum spice, a type of drug. In the mines the air was full of fumes and Carsunum dust participles.

Just by digging and working there, the spice affected you and you became an addict. Carsunum, the black spice, helps the body grow stronger and better than before. Nice, right?"

He could see the others looking at him.

"Um well, except the slave part, what was so bad about it?" Jack asked.

Riley answered. "The mental side effect of Carsunum makes it one of the most feared drugs that exist. Black spice users are known to go on psychopathic killing sprees unless they get their spice or if they just get angry. The spice can fuck up your emotions and suddenly you're killing somebody just because you can. Combine that with the fact that it gives the user a strong, flexible body..."

Daniel swallowed, "Um. You're not a danger, are you?"

Riley snorted. "No. Xander found a way to cure me from the addiction, but the physical side effects remain. My body is well trained, above both elite gymnastics and weight lifter standards. The eyes are the only physical indication. All my senses are above human level of sensitivity." He put his glasses back on.

"Imagine having been tossed inside a cave with thousands of others, both humans and aliens, a micro chip installed in you to stop you from attacking the guards, and forced to work in those conditions. Every day one of us would suddenly suffer from a spice overdose or fall into a permanent coma and then die. We, the ones that survived, became addicted. Every now and then we would feel a strange rage or just an urge that could turn irritation in to murdering rage. That is what I was saved from. Each one of us has just as bad a story to tell, even the kids." Riley finished his tale of woe.

Jack slumped back in the sofa. "Still not right, kids should go to school, giggle and have fun. Not fight a war."

The red haired girl in the corner gave him a sad smile. "Thanks for caring. I'm Willow." She smiled.

Later

With his armor and helmet removed Xander, Jaina and Dannie walked into the galley.

"We parked outside the system, hiding on an asteroid." Xander said and then turned to the guests. "So, now we have to figure out what to do about you."

Colonel Jack O'Neal perked up. "Could you drop us of at the nearest safe Star Gate?" he asked.

"It's back on that planet, unless the ship can travel between stars?" Carter added.

Xander answered: "We can travel between stars, no problem. It only takes a few hours. The hard question is. What is a Star Gate?" He suspected it was the artifact.

All of them blinked.

Daniel started, "It's a ring formed object..." but was interrupted right away by Xander. "So the artifact is called a Star Gate. Sure, if we find a planet with one, we can put you down there." Then he leaned forward. "NOW, what the Sith spit is Star wars?"

The fact that O'Neal had compared him to Star Wars and even knew he was a Jedi was very confusing.

Jack O'Neal said, "O come one, like you don't know." He rolled his eyes. "It is a big movie by George Lucas."

Xander frowned. George Lucas, where had he heard that name? Right, now he remembered. The American Graffiti scandal, the director that was gunned down by gang members during the making of a movie called American graffiti, he'd read about that.

Once again there was no response.

Teal'c answered the question more fully, "It's an epic tale of the future. Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker, the smuggler Han Solo and Princess Leia Organa, who fight against the dictatorial galactic Empire in order to restore the peaceful republic."

Giggles were now coming from around the room.

"It's a movie?" Buffy said.

"No way!" came from Anakin and Jaina.

Xander laughed out, "That was fun. I'm afraid I have to explain our lack of knowledge over Star Wars." He pointed at Jaina. "This is my first wife, Jaina Organa Solo, daughter of Leia Organa and Han Solo. That is Danni Harris Solo, my second wife." He pointed. "That is Anakin Organa Solo, my brother in law." One by one he pointed out the rest of the crew.

"And we had an accident that caused us to cross into a parallel reality."

Daniel Jackson smiled softly.

Jack asked a bit annoyed. "Daniel, is there anything you wish to share?"

Dr Jackson grinned. "Occam's razor. The simplest solution to their powers, tools and ship was an alternate reality," he said, smiling.

Carter nodded. "What about the Ripple effect? If you come from a parallel dimension or an alternate reality, you shouldn't be able to survive," she said. "We learned that during our experiments with a dimension switching mirror."

Xander blinked. "I'm pretty sure the way we travelled, made it possible for us to ignore that."

Buffy blinked. "The what effect?" she asked.

Willow nodded. "Yea, what effect?"

"An effect that should kill us?" Dawn said.

Carter started to explain.

Jack looked at them. "You expect us to believe you?" he asked.

Xander shrugged. "No, asking you to believe us would be foolish. Instead I'm just going to tell you what I believe is the truth and let the future take care of itself. 'Cause in the end, whether you believe me or not, doesn't really matter to me."

Samantha Carter froze as she remembered something Xander had said. "Wait a moment, you said first wife?" she said with disappointment in her voice.

Xander sighed, yet another feminist. "Yes, Jaina is my first wife and Danni is our wife," he said simply.

Carter blinked. "So, Jaina wasn't good enough for you?"

"Captain," Jack said, trying to interrupt the impending argument.

Xander laughed and laughed at that. That was good. "O no. I didn't go out to hunt for another wife. I said Danni is mine and Jaina's wife. Jaina and I were simply too slow and Danni caught us." He smiled, hugging Danni and Jaina's shoulders.

Danni nodded happy. "I'm bisexual. I fell in love and had to marry them," she smiled.

Anakin grinned, "She is a Zeltron. If a Zeltron wants to love you and make you happy, it's almost impossible to escape. You just have to suffer being a happy person."

Danni said, "O you are so sweet." She really had to check if she could find a young Zeltron worthy of Anakin back home.

Carter blinked, "Um. But..."

Jaina interrupted Carter, "The fact is that Danni is married to the both of us. She is our wife. Not just Xander's second wife," she smiled a bit. "And I am just like Danni, bisexual or perhaps Xander and Danni sexual," she grinned.

"Too much information," Anakin shivered. "I'm only 15 and your brother, Jaina!" he whined.

There was silence.

Jack sighed. "I still don't believe you, space boy," he said.

-KNM-

A day later

Xander was watching the nav-computer for information given by the recording he had on Earth's place in space. A recording he had taken during an earlier trip to an alternative Earth.

Silently the door opened as Buffy and Willow sneaked inside.

"Hi guys," Xander said as he kept reading the information. "So, what's up?"

Willow shrugged. "Nothing, just bored with listening to Carter's theory that multiple wives have to be demeaning to females by definition, listening to Daniel trying to learn Basic and listening to Jack begging Anakin or Jaina for a chance to fly a starfighter."

Xander gave out an amused snort. "Buffy, sit down at the sensor control and grab the stick." He looked at Willow. "Sit down in the copilot seat."

They nodded, looking confused.

Xander pushed a button. "This is a piloting and gunner learning program. It's starting up. Now, when I push the activation button, you'll see a fake picture projected in front of you. Just pilot the ship."

He pushed another combination of buttons and a fake picture of the Enterprise flying in an asteroid field was seen in front of Willow. She would pilot the ship. He looked at R3. "Give us random enemies."

The droid beeped a confirmation.

Xander activated his controls, making his seat the copilot seat for the moment. "Buffy, the control stick in front of you is the gunner control. You see a picture of what Rona would see if it was real. Shoot the enemy."

Willow tensed as the picture soon showed big city size rocks flying around them. She hugged her control close, trying to fly as slow as possible.

Xander spoke up as the sensor reading showed multiple TIE fighters coming up from behind. "Asteroids coming up Willow, the whole asteroid field is becoming unstable, we have to move out of it and fast." This was not only a good piloting training, but it was also a fun simulation used for real by fighter squadrons. In this case Buffy was playing a gunner game against R3 and he and Willow were playing a piloting game.

He was actually helping both Willow and Buffy at the same time.

Buffy grabbed her stick. "I can't see them. O wait, there they are." She started pushing the fire button, sending a rain of simulated bolts of laser against the attacking simulations. R3 noticed Buffy's reflexes and speed and raised the ability of the TIE fighters. He improved the maneuverability from a measly type 2 to an awe inspiring type 5. Not that any real TIE fighter had that much maneuverability. But in the simulation, he was GOD. He could do what he wanted.

Xander snorted, "Buffy, be ready, R3 wants to challenge you. He's giving the fighters super-TIE abilities."

"HEY, you stupid cheat droid," Buffy said, but she was smiling while saying it. "Right, I'll show them."

"Oh God, oh God, we are going to die." Willow cried as warning bells yelled out that the ship had struck a rock inside the simulated world. Xander quickly pushed the button to seal of the damage and gave Willow a look. "You have to maneuver more, Willow. If this was real, we would have lost the cargo room." He grinned. Buffy was plain white and Willow nodded with a pale face as she pulled the Enterprise in far too wild turns. Unnoticed by Buffy or Willow, Xander started to use his mind manipulation skill to calm Willow down.

The effect could be seen immediately.

She improved faster and faster. No more nervous Willow, she started to fly like a really talented amateur pilot. Xander coached her from the side.

One hour later the game was over. The Enterprise was a drifting wreck in space from the attacking super Tie fighters. Pushing a last button Xander gave Buffy a holographic image of how damaged the Enterprise was in the simulated game.

Turning to Willow he grinned as he did the same thing.

"Both of you did well. That was a game made for real pilots and real gunners."

Willow said, "But we lost, right?"

Buffy just nodded from behind.

Xander snorted, "This game is a cheat."

Both girls looked at him.

"The better a pilot you are, the harder the difficult level becomes. They say it's impossible to win the game. We started on Level One and the level of difficulty increased every 20 minutes. You played for 60 minutes. That's great!"

Both girls smiled.

Xander neglected to mention the fact that he normally played level five, meaning the difficulty increased every five minutes, and his record on level five was 55 minutes, flying solo as both pilot and gunner.

"This game was created to improve your reflexes," Xander said instead. "Like a gymnast going to the gym, pilots play this to sharpen up their skills."

Buffy and Willow were glowing in pride as they talked about the game with him.

-KNM-

Later at lunch

Colonel Jack O'Neal looked at the Captain of the ship, Jedi Master Xander Harris Solo. "Have you found a place with a Star Gate yet?" he asked.

Xander nodded, "Some places, yes, but I have a counter question. How is the situation on Earth against the Goa'uld?"

Jack swallowed, "Why do you want to know?"

The Jedi just smirked. "I might be able to help, if you tell me the situation."

Jack nodded. "There's a secret war going on against them. We desperately need technology. What can you offer us?" he asked.

Xander smiled, "Not much. Lightsaber tech, but Earth isn't able to completely copy the power-cell. Lucky for you, I have arcane knowledge of OLD time lightsabers lying around, just for kicks. Those batteries you might be able to copy." He grinned. "If you do copy those, things like energy weapons should become possible for you to build. I have armor designs, some of which you could copy and unlike normal Earth armor, this armor is able to offer protection against both physical weapons like bullets and energy weapons like the Jaffa staff weapon." He fell silent. "Against normal disruptors the type of armor we use is extremely effective and the staff weapons seem to have disruptor like qualities."

Jack grinned. "Stop me from drooling," he said.

Xander smiled. "Last and least important, I have drawings of blaster weapons and some blaster weapons I could offer you, not that you could build your own at the moment. But for the future."

Jack nodded.

Anakin leaned back. "I think I have a blue print of a wave blaster, an ancient type of blaster weapon somewhere," he said, grinning. Dad and he had had a lot of fun building one.

Xander leaned back in the sofa. "This is of course not completely free. We want some things in return. Rare plants or plant seeds, chocolate, tea, books, movies and a chance to visit your Earth."

Jack nodded. "That could be arranged," he said.

Xander's smile was definitely predatory. "Good, my final piece to offer is a starship. A Dagger class corvette, which is 200 meters long, it was pulled here accidently and is now stranded, its crew killed. I could jump it to the sol-system and let you guys play with it. But I want some samples of Goa'uld tech that you might have in return."

There was silence as the SG-1 team considered the idea.

Xander kept eating his breakfast.

-KNM-

Hours later Colonel O'Neill had accepted, of course. Now they would pick up the ship and offer it to Earth. Sitting in the cargo room Xander was using his affect mind skill to help his students. "Relax, reach deep inside you and find the connection between you and the Force, relax."

Standing in the corner Jack, Daniel, and Teal'c were listening in.

Samantha was currently trying to learn more about repulsor drives. An irritated Jaina said she should ask Buffy. After all, Buffy could repair repulsors, so she should know how they work.

Relax came Xander's voice as Willow and Dawn were sinking down into meditation.

"His voice is really hypnotic," Daniel said to Jack, who nodded.

Teal'c said nothing from his place on the floor next to Dawn. He might not be a Jedi or have the Force, but the big Jaffa was an old dog when it came to meditation and just being near a REAL Jedi and joining them in a training exercise was too big of an opportunity for him to say no.

"Relax your body Teal'c. Focus your mind outwards until you can feel my mind touch your mind," Xander said, then continued. "Now relax Dawn, Willow, follow my voice deep, deeper inside, connect to the Force now, reach out and find the ball bearings on the floor and lift them with your mind."

Slowly small steel balls in front of them began to lift up.

Force telekinetic beginner lesson.

Xander grinned, now that was interesting. Then he raised an eyebrow as he stood up, seeing a pair of hydro-spanners levitating in front of Daniel and Colonel Jack O'Neal. "Relax Jack, feel the Force flowing through your body. Do you feel it? The power of the Force is flowing inside and outside of you at the same time."

Jack voice was hollow as he answered in a hypnotized trance. "Yes." Then hydro-spanner fell to the floor with a loud clang.

Xander smiled as he closed his eyes. "Now reach out with the Force, sense the room around you, old friends and future friends, places from your past and places from your future. Sense them, reach out and see."

Jack had no idea where the skill or the focus to actually do anything like this came from, but meditating together with Xander, he could improve his skill and control over the Force.

Jack eyes moved quickly under the eyelids. General Hamond, his ex wife, he drifted into different futures and the past. Then he gasped in shock as he opened his eyes. "What was that?" he asked, worried.

Xander smiled. "Congratulations. You have taken the first step on the road of being a Force adept or perhaps even a Jedi student."

Colonel Jack O'Neal answered. "Oh come on. That's so a big joke," he said with a worried voice. "You are joking, right?"

Willow and Dawn giggled at his worried face.

"Congratulations, O'Neill, you are indeed a great warrior. I look forward to fighting side by side with a Jedi," Teal'c said.

Daniel said, "That's incredible Jack."

Xander answered to that, "It is. He's either powerful or has a natural talent." He was confused. It was just not supposed to be possible to learn the Force by mistake, unless Jack already had a natural gift in using it. Some beings and persons did indeed have the natural ability to manipulate the Force. Looking at Jack, he dismissed that theory. Perhaps he had suffered mind altering effects, like changing his memory or down loading huge amounts of information into his memory. Those types of traumas did have a way of improving awareness of the spiritual gifts like the Force. He once again looked at Jack. No way, he didn't look intelligent enough for that.

-KNM-

At the same time in the hangar.

"Wait, what was that again?" Samantha Carter asked.

"That's the repulsor coil which focuses the repulsor power. It's connected to that do-hicky thingy that looks like a bad hairdo," Buffy said.

Samantha sighed, "Right." 

Chapter 15

Five days later

After seeing the Dagger corvette SG-1 was impressed. They used four days to explore the ship as Jaina, Buffy and Anakin put it online.

Then Xander drove Daniel, Carter and Teal-c over to a planet with a Star Gate so they could go home and report, not that they were talking about Jedi at the moment. That would not work well, but they said that they had found allies who were willing to trade tech for tech and gizmo's for gizmo's. Most of what they wanted in return was seeds of plants, books and movies, a long list of those that Xander had given them, but also some captured Goa'uld tech, especially the ring transporters.

Jack was not the happiest person as his belief that the universe was something you could understand was destroyed yet again, but he was a warrior and someone that had more curiosity than even Samantha Carter had and learning the Force was yet another tool, a weapon and an advantage he could use in the future settled him down somewhat.

Xander, Danni, Jaina, even Anakin, were more than helpful. They even offered a tiny holo recording made by Xander and R3. Most of it was in English as Xander had recorded it in his native language. The rest was quickly translated by a protocol droid they had taken from the Dagger corvette. A copy of every skill, ability and lesson Xander usually gave his students, but also a copy of information Xander had learned from the ghosts was contained in the recording. It wasn't perfect, but with the basics down, who knew how much he could or would improve.

Colonel Jack O'Neill accepted it with gratitude.

It took time for the ship to get to Earth. The Dagger only had an x2 hyperdrive. It was slow journeys like this that made Xander love the Enterprise even more.

Dawn didn't enjoy the journey. Surrounded by evidence of the beings she accidently killed, she spends most of her time on the Enterprise. Xander let Jaina and Anakin take care of her training, as it gave him a chance to focus his training on Willow and Jack for the moment. The man was an amusing experience and full of wisdom of the most valued sort, common sense. A wisdom lacking in far too many people, like they said, there is nothing common about common sense. Training somebody older was a novel experience that Xander enjoyed. The man just accepted what he said even when he had trouble unlearning his past experiences and limits.

One of the first lessons Xander helped Jack learn was the Jedi healing trance. Combined with a Bactate cookie Jack's knees were soon better than they had been in years, but they would never be completely healed.

Finally they reached the Earth Sol system and parked the ship in orbit around Mars. A short flight for the Enterprise if any military organization would try to double cross them.

-KNM-

Later

Stargate command did not look like much, a mountain military base, nothing more. With the sensor mask activated any sensors or radar systems on Earth would be unable to see him. The mask even made them almost invisible for the human eye. A small wave like effect in the air was all anyone would see.

General George Hammond watched silently as he waited with guards by his side. The offer Daniel and Teal-c had given him was intriguing. He was nervous, as members of the NID were also present. It was not as if he wanted them here, but Senator Kinsey had insisted.

It was a recipe for a catastrophe.

One of the soldiers called out that he had spotted something. The general looked up to see a strange light wave around a bit.

Colonel O'Neill had not reported that the aliens had a cloaking device.

Then from nowhere there was a roar of mighty engines as the sensor mask was turned off. Hanging in the air less than 60 meters up was the Enterprise, its huge turtle like body slowly floating down.

"Soldiers, prepare yourself. Once they landed and opened the hatch, we secure the ship," a Mayor of the NID said.

"Belay that order, men!" General Hammond roared out.

The NID Mayor did not look happy, "Yes sir."

Soundless, the ship landed.

-KNM-

Inside the Enterprise, a short moment before entering Earth's atmosphere

Xander looked at his crew. "Remember, they are primitive. High tech like ours might make them greedy, which is the reason why I left Anakin and Jaina as back up in the Dagger. If anything happens, we still have a ship."

He looked at Jack. "And if anything happens to my ship, I am going to use the Dagger to turn this place into a pile of gravel. That's the reason why I demonstrated to you the effects the Heavy Turbolasers Cannons have on rock." He turned back to the crew. "Be on your guard outside of the Enterprise and use your armor. Back inside the Enterprise, please remove all guns and hand grenades before putting your pants into the washer." The last was said with a clear whine in his tone.

Riley blushed. You forget to remove a micro blaster pistol ONE time and he would never let you forget it.

Beside him Chloe blushed. You forgot to remove a hand grenade ONE time and he never let you forget it.

Willow hoped Xander never found out that she almost put her training lightsaber in the washer.

Jack O'Neill snorted, "Funny warning, but nobody is so stupid that they forget weapons like that in their pants."

Xander smiled. "Most likely," he said, giving Riley, Chloe and Willow each a wave with his hand. He fell silent as the entry ramp was lowered and the hatch opened. "Show time."

Dawn swallowed.

Rona whispered to her. "I so wish I was in your place right now." She really did. Dawn was a student like Lexa, but she was the youngest member of the crew. She could goof around while the others had to be professional.

As the hatch opened the soldiers watched the crew walk out of the ship. Leading them were two people, Earth's own Colonel Jack O'Neill and following slightly after him an intimidating person. A humanoid dressed in an armor that looked more like something from a comic book than real life, and yet it still had an aura of danger around it. The armor almost looked like the one the bounty hunters used in the movie Star Wars 4.

Xander had left the hard armor in the ship as a show of peaceful intentions.

After the armored man followed some armored females and one other male in armor. A short snickering came from some of the soldiers as one of the females had armor in red and pink.

It stopped quickly as General Hammond gave them a glare.

The aliens marched down from the ship straight after Colonel O'Neill. The moment they set foot on the ground each of them removed their helmets.

George raised his eyebrows at the young looking man who was the leader.

Then a sudden gasp was heard from a soldier seeing the red-pinked girl's face and hair were red. Some soldier said something rude to the other soldiers and a group of them laughed.

The leader, the man Jack called Xander, stopped walking. His eyes glittered yellow and green as he watched the soldiers.

A short tense moment, then he continued walking.

The soldiers were quiet now. There was something intimidating about that stare.

Only after the strangers were almost there, could Hammond see that some of the young visitors looked like children. No more then 14-16, if that, just like Samantha had warned him.

George put on his best diplomatic smile as he gave a salute. "It's an honor to meet you Sir. I'm General George Hammond."

The young man smiled and bowed his head. "The honor is mine, General. I am Jedi Master Xander Harris Solo of the..." He was interrupted by a snickering from some of the officers.

Xander looked at the man and gave a thin smile. "Yes, I did hear that in this reality there is a movie about us." He returned his attention to General Hammond. "Call me Xander and with your permission I can give you and the others a bit of a demonstration."

General Hammond looked at Jack, who nodded. "If you'd like, son," he said. Jedi Knight, no wait Jedi Master even. He sure didn't look like Yoda.

Xander raised his hand a bit and scratched his neck as he concentrated. "I think this would work as an example," he said. Behind the soldiers a jeep was now flying in the air.

There was confusion. Nothing had happened.

The General gave a tense smile. "That's impressive son." Crazy aliens he thought to himself.

Then a gasp of shock or fear came as one soldier started to yell. One by two, by five hundred the group turned and behind and above them a jeep was slowly rotating in the air as it drifted forward.

General Hammond turned his head around so fast that it looked like he was about to break his neck. "You are doing that?" he asked.

"Normally a Jedi or Jedi Master does not go around playing circus, but Earth being filled with those who have seen the movie, a bit physical evidence seemed in order, " Xander said simply.

Then he continued. "The same reason why Jaina and young Anakin remained aboard the Dagger corvette in orbit around Mars, the same ship we might give Earth, if the negotiations go well, and when we sell technology and other fun weapons, tools, armor tech and material tech to you."

Captain Argiale, one of the NID officers, frowned. "What do you mean the same reason?"

A blond girl from his crew snorted out something in Basic, "Not smart are they?" causing the rest of the girls to grin.

Xander smiled a predator's smile. Around the world tigers and hyenas suddenly felt envy.

"We come in peace to trade, but we're not stupid. The Dagger is a backup, if we are captured, tortured or in any way detained against our will, even if just one of us vanishes or ends up dead. Primitive societies are known to do that. In the hunt for power," he said. His eyes looking at the captain were like drills, cutting their way in to his soul, looking at each of his secrets, and what he found inside that weak minded fool was not nice, plots of capturing one of them just so they could steal or blackmail out more secrets and treasures. The mind of Hammond was more impressive, a strong will and honor as well as compassion and ruthlessness against his enemies.

Xander finished his quick mind reading and then started using Mind Effect on the last part, making them truly understand and believe. "That ship, the Dagger corvette, has the power to turn a large part of this country in to slag." It was not a nice thing to do, but he did not care. Honestly, this way he could avoid war and dead humans in advance. Now they knew what he could do and believed he would do it. If they had any IQ in their heads they would not test him.

Slowly the jeep landed besides them. Xander held out his hand, letting his lightsaber fly into it. "May I show you?"

Hammond nodded. "Of course, son." he said, wishing he could dry of the sweat from his neck.

The NID agent was happy that his uniform was black. It would hide the urine which was flowing down his legs. Right now he wanted nothing more than to be running away and to give a report to his commanders. This was not the way the game was supposed to be played.

From the tiny hilt the stranger held in his hand a green blade sprung to life. First it was only 1.3 meters long and then suddenly it grew bigger, to full 2 meters.

With a simple cut the jeep was destroyed and cut in two halves.

The lightsaber was removed once more.

"Alright kids. Pick up your jaws and close the mouths or flies might land in them," Jack said to the soldiers who were gaping in shock over what they had seen. "And yes, he can parry bullets. You do not wish to see him do that."

Xander smiled. "I did say in THIS reality Jedi are nothing more than a movie. We're just stragglers on our way home to our own reality."

It clicked then for more than one person, a different reality.

A soldier whispered. "He said Harris-Solo" Silence followed.

Then "Are your related to Han?" another asked.

Xander smiled. "Sorry, no direct relation to General Han Solo, but I'm married to his daughter, Jaina Organa Solo. Yes, I have seen Han, Leia and was trained by Luke -give me hard work- Skywalker and have seen them many times as I'm married into their family."

A clicking sound was heard as Major Griff was now holding out a pencil and a paper "Could I get your autograph?" he asked.

Xander blinked. "Um, I'm not famous or anything."

Buffy giggled, "Right, after you quoted Kennedy during that speech in the Republic senate. You are so famous."

Xander rolled his eyes. "Yes, that did give me a spot of fame, but that's in our HOME universe."

Dawn answered, "Right, but if they make another Star Wars Movie, what if they make a movie about us?"

There was silence.

Xander hummed. "Give it here," he said, writing it in English and Aurebesh script, "From Jedi Master Harris Solo with regards." He gave General Hammond a look. "Could we leave? I'm not a trained ape or interested in writing any more autographs."

Willow giggled.

Behind them the Enterprise closed up its entry hatch.


	7. Chapter 16 and 17

Chapter 16

Later after a meeting in the meeting room

General Hammond was baffled by the things the visitors wanted, seeds of different types of tomatoes and Durham wheat, which is the kind that pasta is made of, Apple seeds, orange seeds, chocolate cakes and lots of chocolate candy, as well as books and movies, especially the Star Wars and Star Trek books and movies.

Apparently part of Xander's crew and Xander himself had been born on yet another version of Earth and missed tomatoes, which didn't exist in the universe they now called home. They only had what little Xander himself had managed to grow and cocoa beans for chocolate were a rare thing, growing only on a small number of planets.

Those things were easy to find though.

Their demand for time to visit Earth towns, for all of them, with the crew in the Dagger corvette switching places with the crew down on Earth, was harder to accommodate.

Ring transporter from a Goa'uld ship, sure they had some, not that well working, but still.

Some staff weapons, Riley had said that if they gave some to them, he would show the SG Command personnel how to make more effective use of the weapons and he did. Arranging 3-5 of them together as a Gatling gun and mounting those up on a tripod gave you a weapon with superior speed of fire and an ability to aim, compared to the normal staff weapon.

Just that idea alone was worth loosing nine staff weapons.

Then there were the stranger things they wanted.

Xander wanted a chance to hang out with dolphins. That could be arranged. The medic said that he was an amphibian and if he came from an alternate version of Earth, then perhaps he... George fell silent. All Xander said was that he wanted to talk to them.

All of them wanted a chance to see and show of things to George Lucas and if possible, some of the actors, poor guys, and they wanted a place where Xander could train his students.

It was there that George's mind felt numb. Apparently Jack O'Neill had a great talent in the Force and Xander was giving him a crash course on how to use it. When asked how that was possible, Xander said that the Force existed everywhere. A mind trauma where artificial memories or skills were downloaded by force into the brain sometimes caused an increased sensitivity, but for that to have happened O'Neill would have had to have been Force sensitive from the beginning, just unable to use it.

That was the theory Hammond held onto. The other theory was that Jack was a Force sensitive genius. No, mind downloading aliens were the only answer. Poor Jack suffered so much damage to his mind that he gained sensitivity to the Force.

No wait, for that to be true Jack would have been Force sensitive from the start, just unaware of it.

It was time to double check Colonel O'Neill. He asked the good doctor to bring out the big needles. He had NO idea how Jack had done it, to manage to get Star Wars come alive, but he was sure it was his fault somehow and punished he would be.

-KNM-

A short talk to the doctor later

George Hammond looked at the object of his fear. There wasn't much a General should fear, but after taking on the job of running Star Gate command, he had come to fear one object. Every time he had to lift it and report something strange, weird or impossible to the White House, it was the phone he had to use.

How could he report this without ending up in the insane asylum?

Perhaps he should demand that the vice president would come and visit? NO, he was a simple General and he couldn't demand something like that from his superiors.

He remained silent for a while and then a slow smile appeared on his face. Yes, the last time they spoke, the President said that he was grateful and owed them a favor. It was time to ask a return on that favor. Then it would be the vice president and the advisors who'd have to make the report and explain to the President what was happening and why.

A perfect plot against the White House, he smirked to himself as he lifted the phone of the cradle.

-KNM-

23 hours later

Hammond shook the hand of his guest. "Mr. Vice President, it's an honor to see you. Senator Kinsey, Senator Bridgeby," he smirked.

The vice president did not look all that happy, "Do hurry up. We have more important things to do." Such as a late night date with his new blond secretary and her 19 year old twin daughters, the 60 year old man thought to himself. It was good to be the vice president.

Kinsey was not amused. He had worked so hard to make sure the NID would get pictures of the vice president having sex with his secretary and her so called twin daughters. All three agents of the NID where in place and waiting and now that plan might have to be scrapped. At least his agent with Bridgeby wasn't compromised.

Senator Bridgeby was amused. He would finally be able to see the top secret Stargate and even better, he got away from his wife, who always wanted sex. He almost shivered. Not that he disliked her or wasn't slightly attracted to her. It was just that he wasn't that interested in sex. Male or female, it did not interest him, period. If anything his interest was asexual. No sex was the best sex, as far as he was concerned and that new secretary who constantly dropped her pencil and talked with a soft deep voice coming on to him was just annoying. Why did he have to be a sexual magnet? The girls had no idea how hard it was to fake it when you were a man.

General Hammond was amused as he walked them down, showing them the Star Gate and also explaining about one of their stranger missions, concerning a dimensional mirror. Then he showed them their guests.

He had no idea if the Jedi Master could read minds or if he was just lucky.

The vice president dropped his briefs case.

Inside the gym they saw a man fighting two females using lightsabers.

General Hammond said, "And here are a group of new guests who arrived after a cross dimensional journey. They offered to trade some high advance technology and even give us a starship, if we honor the trade. They have an extra ship they have to leave behind in any case when they return to their own home dimension."

The senators and vice president just watched in awe.

Xander was deep inside the Force, as he trained Danni and Buffy in lightsaber combat, both at the same time.

Buffy, being a Force Guardian, was stronger than any normal human. Her strength seemed to be around five times faster and stronger, a bit stronger and faster than Rona, but not as strong as Amanda was. Buffy seemed to have slightly stronger Guardian skills all around, but she had no real special abilities.

Chloe's paranormal ability seemed to be super powered compared to other Force Guardians, but her physical strength was weaker. Rona's ability to learn physical skills was out this world and she didn't have any special weaknesses that they had discovered so far. Her powers seemed to be average in the other areas compared to the other the Guardians.

Amanda had super strength and speed. Her normal level was 6 times as strong and fast as a normal human, and like all Guardians, she could double it for a short period of time. A normal Force Guardian could double their speed and strength for around 10 minutes before they becoming drained. Amanda could double her power and stay in that state up to 60 minutes. On the other hand, her abilities in the paranormal area were weak, extremely weak.

Buffy seemed to be slightly above in all areas. He suspected that having been an active Slayer once and then being turned into a Force Guardian had made Buffy slightly stronger than the other Guardians had.

Xander himself had to use the Force to move faster than a normal human did. He could move almost six times faster than the normal speed a human his size should be able to move at and use the Force to predict what Buffy and Danni were going to do. It was hard to do though. Especially, as he had said that he could NOT use the Force telekinesis or Force push to win this particular fight.

It was lucky that Danni's skill with a lightsaber was weak. She had a strong defense, no, to be honest she had an acceptable defense, not a strong one, but her skill in empathy mind manipulation and illusion more than made up for her lacking physical skills.

Forcing the girls to back down, Xander wondered how long it would take for them to realize that he had said that he couldn't use those powers.

He was rather disappointed in both of them at the moment.

Danni swallowed. Sweat was dripping from her face as she backed away. "Buffy, are we doing something wrong?" she asked.

Buffy just nodded. "Yeah, but what?" she asked, looking at Xander who just stood there, waiting for them to attack. "It looks like he's disappointed in us."

"You have no right to feel that. It's not easy fighting against you," Danni started to smile.

Buffy remembered what Xander had said at the beginning of the fight.

Buffy frowned and then started to smile, "I got it. He can't use Force push and telekinesis, only his lightsaber."

Danni nodded as she started to smile. "You are so going down, Xander," she said in an evil voice.

Xander just shrugged. "Are you sure about that? If you break the rules, you forfeit this training fight."

Buffy looked nervous, she didn't wanted to lose the fight. Xander always rewarded them if they were winners. One look at Danni and she nodded. "We're sure."

Xander put his lightdagger in a low position, pointing at the floor and the lightsaber at breast height, pointing at the roof. "Then try out your theory."

The two girls looked at each other and then moved. Dummies, footballs and training equipment started to fly against Xander, as Buffy and Danni attacked.

Xander dodged the equipment and parried Buffy and Danni, then fell down on his back, still keeping their lightsabers locked with his own as he gave both girls a hard kick in the gut and rolled up on his shoulder, then back to his feet.

Danni fell with an oomph, but aimed a Force push at Xander even as she went down.

For a short moment Jedi Master Xander wished he could dodge it, but innocent spectators like the soldiers watching the fight could be hurt, so he blocked it with his own Force push and lost the fight.

"I just used Force push, I lost," Xander said smiling. "I'm very impressed with both of you. I tried to trick you with a word game, but you discovered it and used it against me. Danni, your skill in telekinesis is improving fast, but I still believe areas such as illusion are your special strength. That does not mean that you lack talent in other areas, such as telekinesis. It's a good area to be strong in."

Danni smiled from her place on the floor. "It's comfortable here," she smiled. "Want to snuggle?"

Xander blushed. "We should keep that in the ship."

"O phooee," she whined. Xander helped her up and gave her a deep mind blowing kiss, leaving her smiling silly.

Buffy rolled up, "Hey, who are those old geezers next to the General?" she asked in basic.

Xander looked over and shrugged. "Some VIP's, I guess. Remember, be polite when you talk in English."

He put the lightsaber away as he turned to the visitors. "General Hammond, it's an honor to see you again. Who are your visitors?"

The General smiled, as he walked forward, presenting his trouble for both Xander and the visiting group.

The vice president groaned. Now he would never have the chance to have that late night meeting with the three wonderful girls.

Senator Bridgeby smiled to himself, as on the inside he was having a party complete with fireworks. He had an excuse to work late, who-ho, no sex for him.

Some days you have all the luck.

Senator Kinsey was frozen on the inside, as his mind contemplated the power the USA would have if they could copy the power of those so called Jedi. Hell, the power he would have, if that happened. He had to contact his agents within the NID and see if they could arrange things. Perhaps kidnap one of the younger strangers or see if they could steal the ship.

He froze in his pondering, seeing that both the red skinned female Jedi and the male Jedi had their eyes focused on him. It felt like they were judging him and not in a positive way.

Xander turned away. "General, why don't we show them a bit of our abilities? Then you can show those gentlemen what we can give them in exchange for a trade. That is the carrot, but I'll also take the time to show that we also have a rod, if you plan to betray us." He looked directly at Kinsey.

The man started to sweat.

"It's not good for your life to even consider the idea of kidnapping or hurting those under my protection. Colonel O'Neill had lots of fun stories about you Kinsey and of the NID. I don't find traitors amusing in any form," Xander said, as he held out his hand in a fist.

Kinsey swallowed some. "Air!" he gasped as something was pushing his throat together. He crashed down on to his knees, holding his throat, hands scratching against the invisible hand squeezing around his throat.

General Hammond cleared his own throat. "Xander, release him now." He couldn't believe he'd phrased it like that.

Xander seem to nod. "Yes Sir," he said, glaring at the guy and then he looked slowly up at the General. "It was only a demonstration. I simply know that this person would try foolish things and pushing my patience in his game of power. I can feel it in the Force."

He walked forward, looking at the pale man.

"I'm going to leave Earth after doing the trade. If Earth's human's act honorably, they will be given a 200 meter long starship."

General Hammond said, "Kinsey, are you aware that they have a 200 meter long warship in orbit around Mars? If we attack them, they have promised to make sand out of the USA and believe me. They have the power to do that," he sighed. "They have also promised to trade us military equipment such as energy weapons, droids, computer tech, high tech batteries, fusion energy and hyper-drive technology that would revolutionize our world. All they want in return are some simple wishes. Seeds of Earth plants, they wish to grow, some books and movies and a few other things, like visiting places in the USA they'd like to see. Also, after hearing about Star Wars, they are quite eager to talk to George Lucas."

He grabbed the senator by his shoulder and lifted him up, not too gently at all. "What you do not seem to understand is that these young people have proven to be empaths with limited telepathic abilities. If he attacked you, I believe that he had a damn good reason to do so, and if you and the NID mess up this trade because of foolish greed for things they're going to give us anyway, I'm personally going to have you shot as a traitor."

The two stared at each other before George stated, "Do you understand, Senator?"

The man nodded. "Yes sir. But this is not the end of this."

The Vice President said, "Show me what they are offering."

Xander grinned. "I can do more than that." He lifted a tiny holo recorder and started to show pictures of the objects in question. Blaster weapons, lightsabers, holo tech, hyperdrive, droid tech, super-computers, simple books about computer and droid programming, proton torpedoes, energy-torpedoes, concussion missiles and armor tech.

"Some of this is tech that will be too advanced for you at this moment, but I have a simpler solution for some areas and the armor tech can be built as of now, only with some difficulties in the beginning. The blasters and lightsabers will be a bit difficult at this moment, but I also have blueprints of a lightning gun that you could build right now, and with the explanation I have in the blueprints, I expect you to have a working blaster or power cell in around four or five years time."

The Vice president looked at Hammond. "Is this real?"

Hammond nodded, "One of the things they want in the trade is chocolate. I had my men buy lots of high quality chocolates of different brands and types. Our guys are at this moment working hard to understand an anti-gravity engine, a repulsor engine. It is surprisingly easy to repair and copy even if they have yet to fully understand it."

Xander grinned, "With the tools and things you have here, I expect them to have built a working repulsor from scratch using my instruction within the week."

The vice president looked at Senator Kinsey and then pulled up his phone. "NSA, I want you to make a full investigation on Senator Kinsey, any deals and black ops he may or may not been involved with, especially with the NID. I want this by the end of the week," he looked at the Jedi. "If the engine works as Hammond said, you have the backing of the President. We'll hold our part of the bargain, you just keep yours."

Xander smiled, "Will do, sir, will do indeed," he said as he watched the three men walk out.

Standing near the wall Kinsey was looking both morose and shocked.

Xander swallowed his smile. "I understand that you believe in what you do. Anything to make the USA more powerful, you are a patriot, a man that believes in protecting his country by giving it the best of everything."

Kinsey looked shocked. Xander shrugged as he sat down beside the man. "You have to understand our point of view though. We do not belong here. We dislike the idea of being forced, enslaved or dissected. We really dislike being dissected, since it most likely hurts," he said looking up at the senator.

The man pulled a crooked smile at that.

Xander continued. "What we have offered is whatever we can survive without and more. Most of it is information, but some of it is hardware. Blaster weapons, tools and even small engines. When we leave, the big Dagger corvette will be left behind regardless. We're unable to use it in our journey. So, either we destroy it or we give it to you." He saw that he had captured not only the Senators ears, but also many of the watching soldiers were listening, so he continued.

"I for one would like to leave it to you. I grew up in a world which was a parallel version of Earth with its own version of the USA. We had our differences. Then I ended up in the Star Wars universe and learned under Jedi Master Luke Skywalker. I ended up marrying Jaina Organa Solo, his niece, and Leia Organa Solo's daughter."

"Really? You know, I always liked Leia, she is a fox," Kinsey smiled, sitting down.

Xander snorted out in laughter, "She could be my mother and she's still a fox." He focused his powers into a small crystal, creating a holo picture of Leia. "That's how she looks now, with her husband Han Solo."

Kinsey nodded, "They don't look like the ones in the movie," he complained.

Xander nodded, "Yes, I know, but there are similarities."

Kinsey could see that. Han Solo wasn't Harrison Ford's twin, but he could have been a brother.

The image switched, "And that's Jaina Solo, my wife."

The soldiers whistled.

Kinsey blinked, "And you kissed that red skinned alien with a wife like that?" he asked, smirking.

Xander rolled his eyes. "That's Danni, she is a Zeltron, a near-human, and she's married to me and Jaina. Most Zeltrons are bi-sexual. Jaina and me failed to escape and ended up being happily married to her."

Kinsey snorted out, "You lucky bastard. Show me Luke Skywalker and Chewbacca."

Xander grinned as the picture changed to Luke and then Chewbacca.

Kinsey said, "Chewbacca looks far bigger and furrier than he does in the movie."

Xander nodded, "Yea. You can see it was only a human in a costume in the movie. Wookiees are among the strongest sentient beings in the galaxy. They have around 9-10 times the strength of a human that size." The picture switched and Lowbacka came up. "That's Lowbacka, a fellow Jedi. He's related to Chewie. I have seen him grab a Dark Jedi and use him as a club." He showed the picture of Lowbacka swinging the darksider around as a weapon against two other darksiders he was fighting.

Impressed and awed sounds came from the soldiers all around the room.

Xander pulled himself up. "I'm going to see if I can talk to the vice president and get him to save your job, even if Jack says less than polite things about you. I believe, no, I feel that the USA will need somebody sneaky to integrate this technology among the civilians," he said, leaving the crystal on the ground.

"You forgot this," Kinsey said.

Xander looked down. "No, I did not. It's just a piece of glass I used as projector." He walked out. The feeling he had from the Senator was different now. He had the feeling that he had made an ally who would remain loyal for a long time and he wasn't lying. The USA would need him, Jack and his team too of course, but mostly Jack, and for some reason Xander also saw an older man, who was a friend and teacher to Teal'c.

What they would do and why, he had no idea, but it was important to this planet.

Whistling, he walked right in and interrupted the meeting. "Hi guys. Sorry to interrupted you, but I bring information that you need, information that is going to make you hate me."

"What?" General Hammond asked, afraid.

Xander shrugged. "I got a future flash. For some reason, in the near future, Jack, his team, an older man, who Teal'c sees as a master and teacher and Senator Kinsey are needed to protect Earth. From what or when exactly, I have no idea, just that they are needed and Kinsey needs to keep some or all of his political powers, if he's to do what he needs to do."

They stared at him.

Xander shrugged. "That's all I could sense. The future is difficult to see and understand. That's one reason many find Jedi irritating. See you," he said, walking out.

There was silence.

"I hate him," the vice president said in an amused voice. Well, he could save Kinsey's job and use the material to keep him under control.

All of them nodded and then they started to laugh.

Eventually Hammond sighed, "I pity whichever fool who takes my place."

**17. Chapter 17**

Chapter 17

In another place, nearby

Daniel smiled as he played babysitter for Dawn and Lexa, driving them around town. It was fun actually, but Dawn was scary when she was shopping in the mall.

"So, what are we going to do next?" Dawn asked.

Lexa shrugged. "No idea. It is somewhat nice. In my reality I would've to have a PSI tag on and nobody would have trusted me." She looked around, "I hate bigots and racist."

Daniel looked over at the girl. "You were exposed to racism?"

The girl nodded, "I'm not Force sensitive like my brother. I'm a PSIONIC, a PSI-kinetic." She smirked, putting her foot against his leg. "Try to stand up or move."

Daniel blinked, and then tried to move his hand and his arm only to find that it was impossible. He tried to stand up, but his body was frozen, as if something was pushing it down. "What are you doing?"

Lexa grinned, "Using my Kinetic-Hold ability. As long as I'm in physical contact with your body, I can hold you still." She let him go. "It's one of my more powerful PSI-skills."

Daniel smiled. "That's incredible." he said, making the two children or teenagers smile. In his opinion the two were just that, children. Then he started asking questions, some about her ability, but mostly about the social differences between her birth reality and the Star Wars reality.

-KNM-

Later

Riley walked out of their sleeping quarters near the Enterprise. Xander and Jaina stayed on the ship and the others had guest quarters in a trailer each. Not that he minded sleeping in the Enterprise, but it was a bit cramped during long journeys. Now he saw his mission objective walking around. He quickly patted himself on the back as he walked up to her. "I am a brave fighter and I trained in many different combat methods. I survived having sex with two Twi'lek girls. I can do this," he said to himself.

With a quick walk he was at his target. She suspected nothing. The time to strike was now. "Hi Buffy," he said and then froze. 'Now what? ' he thought to himself.

Buffy blinked, looking up at him before she answered,"Yeah, hi." she said, looking at him. Was he sweating and did he look a little nervous?

'I have to say something, come on' Riley said to himself. He was as tough as nails, a Special Forces soldier and nothing scared him, time to ask Buffy out for a date. Open mouth, ask question. "Nice weather, don't you think?" Riley blinked. D'oh. That was the wrong question.

Buffy nodded, "Yes, we have nice weather, the weather fine." What was he doing? She knew from talking to Rona that she and Riley had become friends with like, a big brother sister thing going on, and that she was having feelings for one of the doctors that worked with Xander's father.

Now what was that man trying to do? Whatever it was, it was amusing. It looked like he was trying to ask her out or something.

Riley sighed, "I'll...see you later." Damn it. Why did he freeze like that? With a hanging head he walked away.

Buffy blinked. He was actually walking away. "Riley. Wait!" she said, running up to him. "Why don't the two of us catch some breakfast together?" she smiled up at him, testing her theory.

The brilliant smile and scream of "YES Buffy," confirmed her theory. He liked her. As in liked her, liked her. The two walked together to the breakfast table.

-KNM-

Meanwhile in a different part of the USA.

The Space and Naval Warfare System Center in San Diego

The military dolphin research center

D4-D4, the protocol droid Xander had found on the Dagger and adopted, was walking nervously with his master alongside the dolphins playing in the pool. Beside him R3, Xander's trusted old friend, was standing firm, waiting for whatever the order was.

Xander leaned down, listening to the playing mammals. Ever since he watched Flipper as a child he'd wanted to swim with dolphins. Now, being on Earth and having gills on him, the urge had grown almost too great. "D4-D4, listen to the recordings and help translate them. They have a language and are intelligent. R3, help him create a translation program that their computers can handle. I know, they are primitive, extremely primitive, computers." He could feel it. Their thoughts were alien, but friendly.

Xander jumped into the water and soon the dolphins surrounded him. Most of them had trackers mounted on their flippers, but that didn't seem to bother them.

He waved with his hand as he dived further down towards the exit hatch. The dolphins followed, joyfully joining in the game with the strange human diver. He could sense that they were worried that he would drown.

On the bridge Jaina smiled, while beside her Willow looked with awe at the playing dolphins. It was Chloe and Danni's turn to sit guard in the big old Dagger corvette. They had used the A-Wing and X-Wing to switch personnel. With the two fighters starting from the Enterprise and then switching the personnel on the Dagger, the humans of Earth couldn't do anything foolish.

"Ma'm, is he going to be alright?" one of the soldiers asked.

Jaina giggled. "He's fine. Didn't you notice the gills on his neck? Xander has amphibian abilities. He's a near-human as we call them. In Xander's case, he was genetically adapted and improved to create a super soldier." It was true in a way. During Xander's journey to her universe the beings bringing him there had improved him to a super warrior level.

One of the soldier grinned, "Jedi and Captain America in one. Jedis so rule!" he said.

One of them snorted. "Luke would SO kick Captain-A's butt."

The first guy leaned forward. "Yeah? What if Captain America was also trained as a Jedi?" The second guy fell silent and then said, "He would SO rule."

Jaina sighed, looking at Captain Carter. "Could you translate?" she asked.

Carter snorted, "Not in a million years. Let's see what your bucket of bolts can do with the language."

D4-D4 looked insulted. "I am not a bucket of bolts. I'm D4-D4, fluent in over four million forms of communications and..." he was interrupted by Jaina's hand and voice. "Then show them. Help them translate the language. Create an English to dolphin translation program."

The droid was silent as he followed them inside the computer room. "I do not know why they call this machine a computer. I feel insulted that they even compare them to real computers," he said, irritated by the low tech level.

R3 agreed with D4 on that they were primitive computers. Those computers were just incredibly primitive, but unlike D4, he felt almost awe. In a way he has being given the chance to work with the original, the first primitive tool that was a computer. It was like seeing an archaeologist or an anthropologist having a chance to have a sincere discussion with a cave man. R3 felt respect for the humans who were doing so much work with computers this primitive and he hoped that whoever created 'Windows' would stop using drugs.

Carter, more used to the droid, giggled, "Why, you are not a computer," she said.

D4-D4 nodded. "Indeed I'm not, but all droids and sentient computer systems acknowledge the fact that we are related. By the Maker, these cans you call computers are as closely related to me as a horse or an ape is to you. It is an insult."

Jaina sighed, "They're a long way from real computers." She looked at the 'Windows Vista' program running on the screen. "Even longer than I suspected" Shivers fell down her back.

Outside Willow had splashed into the pool and was playing with a friendly dolphin. A scientist kept an eye out on her. That dolphin was a bit of a joker. He loved to surprise humans by splashing them, even going as far as throwing a football at unsuspecting visitors.

Willow could feel its emotions. It was strange, alien even. More alien than she had ever felt before, but even with as little training as she had, she could feel that it was intelligent and playful.

"What are you up to?" she whispered then squealed as the dolphin suddenly swam under her legs and she was taken on a wild ride around the pool.

The scientist snorted at the surprised red-head who now was riding on Joker around the pool.

Deeper down the dolphins following Xander had tried to save him before he could drown, but he had talked to them, mind to mind. That was a bit difficult because the mind of the dolphin was alien and strange compared to humans. Their intelligence wasn't dependent on tool use and their culture didn't create technology. So they had different priorities in life and as a culture. That was one of the many difficulties in talking to them.

He found that dolphins had a well equipped sense of time. Day or night was not that important, but they all knew how long it was until the ebb and flood of the tides would start. Time was far more important to them than to the human mind. And yet they ignored most of the time difference.

An alien mind, a predator by nature, a hunter of fish and smaller mammals, yet friendly and playful.

Xander smiled. The dolphins were truly worthy beings to talk to.

As they learned of his amphibian abilities the game changed, now that they were no longer worried about him. Now they wanted to show him around. They almost argued over and a fight almost started about what they would show him.

The old alpha dolphin, a female, interrupted the two young trouble makers. She told them what they could show their new friend and she would swim with him.

Xander was grateful. He had to use the Force to keep up with them and the things they showed him were impressive, if you were a dolphin. Xander was amused by the experience. They showed him different places to swim and play and a reef that had extra tasty fish in it.

Hours later he and the dolphins were all tired as they helped him back to the bridge.

"Xander, how are you?" Willow asked as she lifted him up on the bridge.

Xander snorted, forcing the water out of his lungs and mouth, and then snorted again, removing the water in his ears. "Tired, we had lots of fun today," he said, petting one of the dolphins on its head.

Jaina kissed him, "Yeah, we had fun too. D4-D4 managed to create a translation program for the dolphins. It is not perfect, but they can use it to talk to them." Snuggling in she could feel how cold Xander was. "You're freezing," she said. Xander said nothing, just snuggled in between the girls, shivering.

Sure Jaina, Xander and most likely Willow too knew that he could use the Force to absorb and dissipate energy to warm himself, but snuggling up side by side with his wife and his best friend was a so much nicer way to warm himself.

Then Samantha -Evil- Carter came and ruined it. "Here Sir, I brought you a blanket to warm yourself," she said with a friendly voice. The blanket had been sitting on a heating element so it was warm, just over body temperature, perfect for the cold and freezing Jedi Master to warm himself with.

She just couldn't understand why he glared at her or why the girls were frowning at her.

Swallowing his irritation Xander mustered a fake grateful, "Thanks. Now I'm warm again."

One of many scientists, Arnold Schwarz, came over. He was a scrawny man who was born in Austria. As a child he grew up only a short distance from Thal, only fifteen miles or so. Born 1958 he was 11 years younger than another man who also grew up in Thal.

The two people, with such similar names, never met each other and where Arnold Schwarz entered the world of science, the other Arnold became famous. Arnold Schwarz did not enjoy seeing Terminator or any other movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger in it. It didn't help that his dialect was similar to the one the actor still had.

"I have to say, the program your droid has created is impressive. I hope you can be back soon."

Some of the soldiers behind him snickered as he said 'be back'. He ignored it for the first time ever. He enjoyed seeing a robot walking around and unlike the other Arnold, this one was real.

D4-D4's voice was happy as he answered. "I'm so glad to see somebody who appreciates my skills."

They all ignored him.

The droid kept talking to the soldiers, as he had discovered that they had been ordered either to stand still or be silent or both, so he wanted to help them enjoy their work by talking to them.

A soldier groaned as he was forced to listen to the droid babbling on. If he only had a blaster...

Xander said: "Thanks, Arnold." He blinked. "Hey, did anybody ever tell you that you sound like the actor?"

Arnold sighed, "I know. We grew up near each other and no, I never met him or see him in my life."

Xander smiled, a bit crocked. "Get it. You suffer lots of Arnold jokes, lots of I bee back jokes."

Arnold sighed. "Yes, you would never image how much."

"O that's so sad." Willow said. "But your work is so much more important than his work is." she said, smiling. "It's not like he's or could be a governor or something."

Xander got a strange flash of the future. He had a feeling that Arnold wouldn't like to visit California.

Arnold smiled, "Thanks."

They followed the scientist inside where the primitive super-computers worked with the new translation program the droids had created. A program so advanced, that in two years the program would revolutionize the computer industry as a portable translator program which would be build into mobile phones. Nokia would manage to create the first successful version of a mobile translator telephone, right now though it was working to translate something simple. It was an English-Dolphin translation program, with the option to be used to translate other languages. It was after all a state of the art translation logarithm.

Arnold was fascinated. D4 had managed to translate and talk with the dolphins in hours, something they had spent years trying and failing to do. Sure, it was not a complete understanding between the dolphins and D4 because of the shortness of time, but the translation program he left the scientists should be able to do the rest.

"I never knew they were that smart," he said as they all drank coffee.

Xander looked at his cup. "They are and they are not. What you have to understand is that humans are tool using sentient beings who live in a world with 5 dimensions. Up, front, back, right and left. Down is not something we have to worry about as much as they do. The dolphins have up, down, front, back, left, right. Like the human brain, they are programmed to live in that environment. They also have a great sense of time, but like I said, their brain is not rigged for tools like ours are. Our brain has evolved towards problem solving and creating more new tools. The dolphins are smart enough that they can learn to use tools when given some, but it would take a miracle for a dolphin to create a new tool from scratch."

Arnold nodded. "I see. They have greater situational awareness than we have and a different way of handling problem solving." He smiled. "If we could adapt an airplane for a dolphin to pilot, he could become quite at it, I guess."

Xander nodded. "Absolutely, their body would handle G-powers better than ours would too, but it might take time for them to understand our way of looking at things. Like for instance, why should he pilot anything at all?" He grinned. "But we might be wrong about the pilot idea. I'm not an expert on analyzing abilities."

Willow blinked. She was trying to image the USA air force with dolphins as pilots and was failing.

Arnold nodded. "We have much to learn before we can figure out what they can learn and are good at."

-KNM-

One day later in LA

Riley smiled as he held Buffy's hand. "You know, I've wanted a chance to get to know you ever since you crashed down in the living room?"

Buffy blushed. "Really? You never said anything." She smiled. He was so dreamy.

On the other side of the restaurant Danni was trying to keep herself amused, since Xander was in the Dagger Corvette, he somehow got Jack O'Neal and Willow up there with him. It was so unfair. She had wanted time alone with him and Jaina. At least she had Jaina to amuse herself with.

It was so funny seeing the earthlings shocked and surprised looks when they saw her kiss both of them. Samantha Carter was especially amusing. Her dislike of anything that looked like a harem was so strange. Right now she felt like she wasn't welcome at the military base. They had arranged for her to take some time out from the place.

All she did was to yell at General Hammond and that Vice President guy. She had discovered that a cruel injustice was being done to all the poor guys and girls working in the military or Air Force or whatever. First, the soldiers were not allowed to have sex if they served in the same line of command, if she'd understood it correctly, and secondly, homosexual and even bi-sexual relationships were disapproved off.

Naturally she had talked to them about how unfair the government was to their army and military. Now they were all angry with her. Life was just not fair. All she wanted was to help them. Was that so wrong? She lowered her head, looking down at the table. Life and humans were so hard to understand sometimes, even for an empath like her or any Zeltron. They had difficulties understanding how humans could be so afraid of pleasure and joy. Sitting beside her Jaina sighed as she hugged her Danni. Being a Zeltron among humans was not always easy.

A Zeltron knew automatically if their partner wanted to have sex or not. Rape was a crime no Zeltron ever committed. If his or her partner did not enjoy the sexual act, then half the pleasure was removed. And of course most Zeltrons found it difficult to understand just how confusing other humans found it trying to understand another person or even their own emotions. Never mind understanding why someone would rape or even torture another person. Killing and murder were easier to understand than rape or torture was for a Zeltron. Sex was as natural as air to any Zeltron, the idea that it could be scary or emotionally difficult was too alien for most Zeltrons to grasp.

-KNM-

About the same time near Mars, inside a Dagger Corvette

"I don't need this," Jack complained.

"Close your eyes. Follow your instincts." Xander said with glee. Jack was not the strongest Jedi he had ever seen, but his ability to learn Force skills was of the scale. Not even HE learned that fast and he had impressed Luke and generations of dead Jedi ghosts with his abilities.

The tiny remote floated up in the air over them as it started to fire its stingers. (Stinger = Tiny blaster that is unable to penetrate human skin, but sure stings and burns when it hits you.)

"Ouch," Jack said, holding his rump.

Xander said, "Feel it in the Force. Don't just react, let the Force guide you."

Jack muttered "Alex Guinness you are not." He complained, but focused just like the stupid Yoda wannabe asshole with gills wanted. His training lightsaber did it. He parried the first stinger bolt the second he felt where it would be before it was even fired. "Ouch" Ok, that one he missed.

"Focus," Xander said, his voiced deep with mind effect, helping his student keep his mind focused.

Beside them Willow was doing the same exercise, but unlike Jack, she didn't complain much. "Ouch. You meany!" Well, not too much.

Looking at the time Xander smiled to himself. "Alright put down the blades, both of you have done well. Willow, you improved rapidly, I'm impressed. Jack, the speed of your improvement is off the scale, but you have much to learn and I am not staying long, so we have to push you a bit more. Aren't you happy that I taught you the Jedi meditation which shortens the need of sleep?"

Jack muttered something about stupid fish aliens with gills enslaving and torturing him and if not him, then his wives, one of them or both. "Yeah, thanks, I enjoy that. Before we met I so never believed I could miss my 8 hours of sleep so much." Why was he always the butt end of the universe's joke?

Xander grinned. "Well, then you might not like my gift."

Jack did a 180. "Gift? I like gifts. Gifts are good, me nice boy. Obey master, yes I'm a good slave, gimme gift."

Willow giggled and said, "Student, not slave."

Jack shrugged. "Student, slave, same thing. Just a more political correct name, especially when he's concerned," he said in a fake whisper, pointing at Xander.

Xander held out three small packages.

Like a kid Jack opened them. "Sweet!" The first was his own lightsaber and an extra power cell. "Thanks," he said in awe, testing it. A green blade, that was so cool.

Xander smiled. "Sooner or later you have to build your own lightsaber. The extra power cell is a spare if anything happens. Otherwise I suggest you scavenge parts from the old blade I just gave you or just adapt that blade so it is attuned to you."

Jack nodded. Xander had explained how he could 'get to know' the blade, make it part of himself by meditating and focusing his own powers into the different components. Since all Jedi sooner or later had to build their own lightsabers and the power cell was so useful. It would take perhaps five years, counting optimistically, or more before Earth would be able to copy the technology used in a lightsaber even using the detailed drawings Xander had given them.

Willow squealed out, "The other package." She was curious, damn it.

Jack looked up. "Nah, I think I'm going to open them in private." he said, sniffing a bit. "I think I need a shower."

The pale look on Willow's face and the croaked, "No, I want to know," was its own reward.

Jack smiled, hiding his laugh. "Sure, I'll open them now." Besides he was so curios himself that he wouldn't be able to wait until the privacy of his room.

The second package was different. There was a big thick book inside with the title "Jedi for Dummies". "No, you did not," Jack said in awe.

Xander nodded. "I did. I used the droids in this ship and R3 helped me. It's a learning and teaching manual written by me, each and every skill and power a Jedi has to learn, with the easy and the hard way of learning them. The book is of a soft plastic material far more durable than paper. I also included a tiny 3D computer data base. The one I said I would give you. That one has almost all I know about the Force in it. It is a mix between English and Basic. So I included an English-Basic lexicon written by D4-D4."

Jack smiled as he looked into the book. The illustrations were SO bad that he simply loved them. "Who did the illustrations? Did you kidnap a five year old?"

Xander growled out, "HEY, I'm not that bad."

The snorting sound from Jack, Willow and R3 proved him wrong.

"What about the last gift?" Willow asked.

Xander smiled as Jack opened it and found a tiny scanner.

"Um what's this?" Jack asked.

Xander answered him, "That is what you need to test a possible student to see if he has the potential to learn the Force or not."

Jack paled "I... You want me to..?"

Xander held up his hand, "No. I give you the potential, if you want to in the future. From what I can see of the future, Jedi on Earth might be the greatest defense the planet could have. But if you do it wrong, they could become almost as dangerous." he said calmly.

Jack nodded, looking at the now dangerous seeming scanner. His power level was weak, but Xander had taught him many skills and the power was growing, it felt as if it was improving by the day or the hour as something missing in him had finally been found. He closed his eyes, meditating over this.

When life gave you lemons, you made lemonade, but what would you do, if life throws your life into a loop? Do a home run? And the future was a mess, millions of options rushing and screaming to show him what they considered the future to be. Xander did say it would be easier to focus on the most likely futures.

As Jack pondered the future he walked over to where Xander was teaching Willow. Now that looked sweet. Xander walked around Willow, pointing at the floor where a circle was painted. "That, Willow, is the core secret of form 3. Soretsu. The circle, a shield of protection. Try to see you and your lightsaber forming a bubble around you with the radius of that circle, the so called Soretsu shield. Inside that circle, you are protected against attacks. Soretsu is the defensive form and it gives you a superior defense, but the attack is weak. Jaina is a master of this form and of form 2 Makashi."

Willow nodded. They had tested and showed her the basic of Makashi. Xander believed they should learn the basics of all 6 forms, then improve each according to which they liked the most.

He raised his lightsaber. "Jack, jump into the second circle. I don't have much time teaching you, so we're going to start showing you Soretsu basic and form 6 Niman. I'm really going to push you in the Niman later."

Jack nodded, "What is so special about Niman?" he asked.

Xander looked at Willow, "Tell him."

Willow blushed then nodded, "Form 6 Niman has no weakness and no special advantage. Unlike Form 2 Makashi, it is strong against single enemies, weak against range attacks and superior numbers, but a master in Makashi can easily compensate and against powerful attacks, use form 3 Soretsu."

She was interrupted. "I get it," Jack said. "Niman is the golden middle road."

Xander nodded. "Yes, there are over 10 000 years of research in this. Personally, I believe that Makashi would suite you more than Niman, but I have given you enough 3D holo projection examples so you should be able to learn all of them by yourself and Niman is more useful for a student. Makashi demands a master. A true master in Makashi knows he is superior and refuses to be defeated in combat. You'll find a part of the victory in lightsaber combat is attitude. Makashi lies in trusting your own superiority during combat or simply put, thinking that my skills are superior to yours. Niman says nothing is too much."

Jack grinned. He started to like Niman.

"Um, what is Soretsu?" Willow asked.

Xander blinked. "I will protect."

They were silent as the lesson began.

An hour later a tired Willow walked away to rest. Xander said she had done well today and unlike Jack, she had plenty of time to learn. The two warriors stood side by side, moving together as Jack learned the moves of Niman and Soretsu.

The combat raged Willow considered what she had learned, standing in her room. She knew that Xander had given the form the new attitude description and it fitted. You had to have the right attitude to win the fight.

Form 2 Makashi was called the Way of the Ysalamari or the contention form.

Form 3 was Way of the Mynock or resilience form.

Both names were fitting, like a Ysalamari Makashi forced his victory against other Force users through subtlety and not by superior strength against the enemies weakness. And Soretsu was like a Mynock, one of the most resilient life forms in the galaxy that could survive almost anywhere. Soretsu was all about surviving.

The Niman she had not yet studied or tested. It was called the Way of the Rancor or the Moderation form. She guessed that to the attitude of a Rancor or a master in Niman, no enemy is too great.

She did wondered what form 1 the Sarlacc or the Determination form had for an attitude in the book of Xander. Finding a paper on her bed she read.

Form 1 -determination form- no surrender.

Form 4 Ataru -Aggression form- Surrender or die.

Form 5 Shien-Djem,So. -Perseverance form- I will endure any opposition.

She blinked as she read that note. How did he know she would wonder about that? Keeping reading she saw an explanation.

'The attitude is a focusing help for Jack. He often uses his attitude as a focus to improve his own force of will. This is not that different from your own way of acting and behaving. I also expected that you'd wonder about the others as you tend to over-analyze things.'

"Hey I do. Perhaps I do over-analyze sometimes," Willow defended herself before she kept reading.

'Using these attitudes as a focus in your understanding of the combat form might help you speed up your learning. Half, if not more, of the power in the fighting forms comes from your connection to the power of the Force and your will to win the fight.'

Willow read, then re-read the paper.


	8. Chapter 18 to 22

Chapter 18 

At the same time on earth

Dawn looked at Lexa. Lexa looked at Dawn. "This is so your fault," they said at the same time, pointing at each other.

They were standing among a big group of people grouped together in one corner of the Museum they were visiting. On the other side was a group of terrorist or robbers, waving guns around. Whatever they were, they were angry. Of the guys the Star Gate command and NSA had sent with them as bodyguards/spies, one was bleeding on the floor and the other was unconscious from a head wound.

Which of course annoyed the girls, the two of them had been polite enough to present themselves as being their shadows. Apparently the government was smart enough to have ordered them to do that. After all, anyone in Xander's crew was skilled enough to detect the spies directly and escape them, if they wanted.

Naturally the USA had also sent a second pair of spies stationed a bit further away that they did not inform Dawn or Lexa about. Just as naturally the girls knew about those two also and those two NSA agents had even given Dawn and Lexa some ice-cream. Now they were down and a screaming asshole was freaking out because he'd found out that there where National Security Agents in the group of hostages.

Outside the police had arrived.

Dawn grabbed Lexa's hand. "They're fine," she whispered. "He had a protective vest and it stopped the bullet. The other one is fine, too, just groggy, but it is still your fault. You have the Harris luck."

Lexa huffed. "Hey, it was YOUR idea to go to the museum," she complained.

One of the terrorist/robbers slammed the butt of a gun in her face. "Shut up," he said, angry.

Lexa blinked. Thanks to the Kinetic shield skill of hers, she hadn't even felt that smash. She looked at Dawn, seeing her eyes. She was silent. The guy did not even notice that she was unhurt as he spotted something good. "You, you're that reporter, right? That independent news bitch?"

The woman behind him nodded "Yes. I am an independent news reporter," she said. This could be her ticked to fame or to an early grave, whichever came first.

The guy growled, "I don't care. Do you have your camera man here and the camera?" he asked.

The other five criminals walked over. "The cops have the place surrounded," one whined.

The first growled, "Shut up, Shorty. This will be our ticket out of here. They can't kill us, if we're on the news."

Dawn sighed. In what kind of world did these idiots grow up? If they were killed on the news America would start a party and have some fun. The more blood the better.

The news reporter seemed to have the same idea.

The criminal apparently had no clue. "Right Biggles, and we can get them to pay us billions if we free the hostages and get a plane out of the country." He even remembered to use the code name.

Shorty because he was short and Biggles because he could pilot a plane, Ace because he ruled in poker, Night because he was African American, Bull because he was the biggest son of a bitch and Shooter 'cause he was an expert on guns. He only wondered why they all named him Incompetent. At least they didn't mock him for being stupid.

Ace said, "We have to show them we're serious. Start the camera and start sending now."

The reporter and her camera man nodded and as quick as possible they started to transmit.

Ace nodded. "Good, are we live now?" he wondered while looking around. He smiled inside his mask seeing a portable TV on one of the hostages. Turning it on, he could see himself watching the TV and the reporter talking. They were live, they were famous, live was good.

He rolled his neck. What now? Right, "Incompetent, Bull, grab one of them. Let's show those pigs how serious we are," he said, holding up his gun.

Dawn looked at Lexa. "This is so your fault," she said as the lightsaber glided into her hand. Beside her she saw Lexa focus her powers. Looking around the room she found her two targets. Dawn almost growled in irritation. They were going to shoot the NSA guys.

Then she moved, followed by Lexa.

Snap hiss. The blade activated on live television.

She danced in between Bull and Incompetent with a single cut and both criminals lost their heads. Not even stopping she Force jumped forward, landing next to Ace and his right hand man Shooter. Swinging her lightsaber she moved in a circle, cutting Ace's weapon hand and both of Shooters hands.

Lexa's action was not as quick or elegant. She simply focused her telekinetic on Night, causing his gun to fire, hitting Incompetent in the shoulder. At the same time she was moving as fast as she could, having not yet mastered Kinetic move perfectly. Then, as Dawn destroyed her last two, Lexa grabbed a wrestling hold on both Incompetent and Night. Using Kinetic-Hold they were frozen.

"Got them, Dawn!" Lexa said, holding both of them.

Night tried to move, but found that he couldn't. "Hey what are you doing?" he asked, suddenly afraid.

Incompetent cried, "I'm paralyzed!"

"Help me Dawn. I can't hold them for long," Lexa said.

Dawn grinned and picked up a pair of handcuffs from the NSA guy. "Just giving these two some first aid," she said. She used her auto injector on them, giving them some bacta solution. That would speed up the healing.

The camera man kept filming. This was incredible.

Dawn moved quickly.

Night was shocked as his hand moved by itself dropping, his gun and then lifting itself up, letting the Jedi put on a pair of handcuffs. Incompetent just stared. His simple mind was overloading.

Lexa took a deep breath. "That was hard. Kinetic hold on two at the same time and the big guy was strong," she complained. "How are the guards?" she asked.

Dawn answered, "Recovering." She looked at the reporter. "Stay away from the crime scene and Star Wars rules, Star Trek drools!" she said before using her skills to destroy the camera.

"We have to get out of here," Lexa said. General Hammond would be so angry with them.

Dawn sighed, she bet more NSA guys and military troopers were either already there or on their way. She put her lightsaber away.

The police was already on their way inside.

On the ground Ace was staring in shock. How could his perfect plan go so wrong and how could a Jedi be real? There was like no way a Jedi from the planet Vulcan could exist, at least not on Earth.

-KNM-

Later in the restaurant

Jaina looked at the television from the table she and Danni was sitting at. "By the Force, I wonder what Hammond will say," she said to Danni.

Danni shrugged. "I don't know. I bet it won't be all that polite," she said.

-KNM-

At the base

Hammond looked at the news. At first he wanted to yell. Then he sighed, turning to the Vice President he said quite calmly, "I think we could use this to make George Lucas interested in meeting those guys."

The vice president nodded. "I was wondering about that red skinned girl. Is she mentally safe?" he asked. Her ideas were a bit weird. Like having official sex rooms on the base or hiring sex-nurses to help relieve tension.

Hammond nodded. "The girl Rona explained it to me. She's from a race of empaths. They constantly read others emotions. Because of that they have a bit of a hippy like culture when it comes to sex. Rape is apparently something most Zeltrons are unable to do. When they have sex they apparently enjoy their partners feelings also, an emotional feedback loop which makes rape impossible among them."

The Vice President nodded, "I see." He did indeed see that.

General Hammond nodded. "Yeah, it gets better, imagine having sex living in a house of glass. Everybody looking your way sees what you do."

The Vice president blinked, not understanding. "Empathy is not stopped by solid objects, only by distance and will power, and all Zeltrons are born empaths."

The Vice president blinked again. "My god, I wouldn't have the guts to pee on that world."

Sitting in the corner Captain Carter nodded. Rona had talked to her also. Now Danni's strange ideas made more sense.

Hammond smiled. "Yes. From what Rona said the only sexual taboo is incest and rape. The rest is pretty much accepted as long as nobody is forcing the other."

"Like on Earth, Sir," Carter said.

Hammond nodded. "Yes, like on Earth in all the civilized places." He continued, "She also explained that Danni, being a Zeltron, feels the sexual tension and the longing our men have after their loved ones while here on the base as it was her own and the one thing the Zeltron have a difficulty in understanding is just how limited the human ability to sense emotions is."

Carter nodded. "I can understand how that could be hard sir. Imagine how the world must look for a being who can't see anything or is just unable to see colors, or even worse, imagine what the world would be like for a being unable to feel touch."

There was silence.

The Vice President nodded. "Just trying to understand how the blind or the deaf look at the world is difficult to do," he said in an understanding voice. "My god, I remember how difficult it was when I was in the army. I was constantly longing for my girl. There must be thousands of soldiers in the same situation around here."

Carter nodded. "And some who are hiding that they love a higher officer or are in love with somebody their own gender or..." she said, blushing.

General Hammond said, "I think it got better once she spent time with both Jaina and Xander, but now we have to see that young Dawn and Lexa are returned to us."

The Vice President nodded. "By the way, what was it that Lexa did?" he asked.

General Hammond answered, "Lexa is a PSI. Her talent is telekinetic. What she used was Kinetic-Hold. She showed us that. Just by physical touching someone or something, she can freeze them if her PSI-Strength is stronger than their physical strength."

Captain Carter said, "She also showed her skill in what she said was a Kinetic shield. She can protect herself against physical objects. The more kinetic energy she has to protect against, the harder it is, and she seemed to have a limited amount of energy that she can use," she smiled. "Under Xander's watching eyes, we tested her kinetic shield against our FN P90. She could hold almost half a magazine before her shield was weakening."

The Vice President looked impressed.

Captain Carter snorted, "Don't be that impressed. Just know that to hold that up is draining on her endurance. Once she gets too tired, she would be unable to use her PSI powers. But till then."

The Vice President was impressed. "If we had soldiers with that kind of power, imagine what they could do against the Goa'uld."

Hammond smiled. "Nothing, Sir, except dying. They use energy weapons, not projectile weapons. The kinetic shield wouldn't protect against that." He sighed, "Now, let's get back to work. Sir, you had a team out on the field. What is the situation with the tomato plants?"

The Vice President grinned. "He only asked for one, but we got them 200 different versions of the tomato plant."

Carter nodded. "Xander gave us a gift, a vine coffee plant. From what we see, it seems to be related to Earth's coffee plant. It is a favorite of the rich and powerful. He said he got the plant before he tasted the drink. I liked it, so he gave me the plant and some of the coffee. It's a favorite of Lando Calrisian, the Emperor and Jabba the Hutt from what Xander claimed." She ignored the fact that Lando had given him the plant and some seeds in amusement over how many tomato plants he had inside the ship. Now she was the owner.

They looked impressed, a coffee drink that rulers of a galaxy preferred. Now that was a coffee drink they wanted to taste.

-KNM-

Hours later

Hammond said, "Hmm. Strong, yet a subtle aftertaste." He could definitely start to like this, "Perfect to drink black with no sugar or milk in it." Drinking this coffee of rulers he wished he had a white furred cat to pet. It would be a perfect Dark Lord moment.

The Vice President rolled the coffee inside his mouth, tasting it before he swallowed. "Strong, yet not a too consuming coffee taste. Its aftertaste is quite refreshing. Yet it still needed a drop of milk to be perfect," he said softly, then tasted it again with some milk. "Now that's how it should be," he said, enjoying the perfect combination in his cup.

Carter just enjoyed her cup with both sugar and milk. Luxury overdose was her preference.

-KNM-

Days later

Xander smiled. If he had grown up in a world where Star Wars the movie was a part of the everyday culture, he would most likely have been a shivering wreck right now, but he had not grown up like that, so he wasn't.

On the side he could see Captain Carter and Danni having a heart to heart conversation. The two had apparently talked things through and become friends. In a way they were mirror images of each other. Quite firm in the fact that their belief was right and everyone else should just agree. Captain Carter had even taken Danni out to see humans in different situations, from pre-schools to hard working people in a bank. Their pure inability to understand each other's emotions had shocked the Zeltron. It was the children that truly made her see the light. Adults had stronger will power and it was far harder to sense their emotions, but sensing the children's emotions was so easy that she could almost read their minds from their emotions alone, without using her mind reading skills. Xander was impressed at how deep a friendship they had gained in such a short time.

He turned to the others. Jaina was standing near him. He gave her a smile and then kept looking. At Dawn and Lexa, the two new television news stars. Both had done the wrong thing for the right reason and at the right moment, so nobody was angry with them, just irritated at the criminals. It had been Hammond who was the first to congratulate them for saving the hostages the way they had done, but he had also been the one who told them they did the wrong thing for the right reason and at the right moment. Xander completely agreed and told them they should be proud of themselves. Naturally the two girls were confused by the mixed signals, a perfect way to keep your students from getting too big headed.

Buffy and Riley were missing as they had offered to take guard duty on the Dagger. He was surprised over that. Chloe he could see was talking to Anakin. He had no idea what was going on in the kids head, but he had an idea, poor guy.

There, the big luxury car arrived and he almost smiled at sight. George Lucas had arrived. Now this would be fun.

They all watched how General Hammond introduced himself and talked George to George, showing him the contract he had to sign, the national security act. George Lucas' lawyer looked over the paper and told his employer about any traps. By now George Lucas was to curious. He had to find out why the Air Force wanted him here. Since President Reagan had used his Star Wars as a name in his space defense program, he had not had felt any happiness with the military. His Star Wars should not be used to popularize a weapon system. In fact he was considering naming one of the enemies in the new 3 movies Nute Gunray to honor old Reagan, but whatever they were going to show him must be big.

Xander watched as they entered the mountain. "Let's go," he said following the second group. The lawyer stood behind them, he was not invited.

-KNM-

Later

George Lucas was shocked, impressed and baffled. They had a gate, a Star Gate to other worlds. As he slowly gathered his calm they started to show him the recordings they had of a dimensional mirror they accidentally had accessed.

Alternate realities were no longer fiction.

-KNM-

Five hours later

George Lucas had finally understood that this was all real. They wanted something from him, but he had no clue what? "You wanted something from me? I'm a movie maker, that's what I do. The only thing I can imagine is that you want me to document the Star Gate or help you make it known to the civilians, but that's still feels wrong. So what is it?"

The Vice President entered the room from his watching place outside. "I am impressed. Almost two months ago SG-1, our most famous team, encountered a group of dimensional wanderers. Humans and near-humans lost from their own reality. Once they heard about you they wanted to talk to you or just to see you. They also build this as a gift for you," he said, handing over the lightsaber Jaina Solo had built as a gift for the man who had created such an incredible and wonderful story of her mother's and father's and also her uncle's adventures.

George Lucas looked, amused, at the lightsaber hilt. It was always one of those. "Thanks," he said, wondering how many he had now. The buttons looked like he could push them even. Why did they always have to build him toy hilts? He pushed the button and destroyed part of the table as the light-blade slashed out, cutting it off.

Standing behind George Lucas, was an amused Xander who quickly saved the movie director from bodily harm when he activated his real lightsaber.

George waved the blade around, slicing the table's metal pieces.

"Like I said, our visitors are not from our reality. I think you're getting an idea of where they are from," the Vice President said.

"Oh god, it is real," George Lucas said with a pale look on his face. He should have fainted, but a new strength flowed inside of him, calming him.

From behind Xander helped calm their guest, since it seemed he was overwhelmed.

The door opened and Jaina walked in. From behind, shocking George a bit, Xander walked forward, hugging Jaina. Then Danni walked inside. Her Zeltron body sure made her look a bit different. R3 and R6 rolled in after them, then D4D4 who really had no idea what they wanted him for and honestly wished they would have left him on the ship, but it felt right having a protocol droid with them, even if D4D4 was silver and not gold.

After the droids came Anakin.

George just watched. "That can't be true," he said.

Xander smiled. "Let me introduce you to my wife Jaina Organa Solo and our wife Danni," he said, pointing them out. "Anakin Organa Solo, Jaina's baby brother and my friend."

George stuttered. "I. It isn't real, is it?"

Xander sat down. "In an infinitive universe with infinitive dimensions, anything you imagine or wish to be real is real somewhere. Some dimensions are too different for us to cross without dying. Others are related to each other, making passing the borders possible."

Jaina continued, "We have discovered already one human on this world who's Force sensitive and gave him some training."

George stuttered: "So, is what how..?"

Xander said to this, "Anything you ask we are going to answer for you and we are even going to let you up in my ship, the best ship in the galaxy."

"No, my dad's ship is the best in the galaxy," Jaina said.

Xander grumbled, "Do not mock the Enterprise. She's greater than the Falcon. Sure not as fast, but she is more powerful in combat," he huffed.

Danni leaned forward, whispering to Lucas. "It's a sour subject. Xander and Han are in a friendly competition. The Enterprise has more weapons than the Falcon and is slightly slower in normal space and slower than the Falcon in hyperspace and not as good at playing civilian cargo ship as the Falcon is."

Xander sighed. "Females are evil," he whined, earning him a kiss from both girls. "But I can live with that," he finished in a smile.

George Lucas could not help but laugh.

-KNM-

Later at the landing pad

George Lucas watched the ship. Rust and extra hull plating covered the ship. "What a piece of junk," he said with a smile. "It looks like a cybernetic space turtle."

Xander said, "The rust is paint and is used as camouflage. It is also having more weapon systems and a heavier hull then the Falcon has. The Falcon used layer after layer of different hull types to gain superior armor protection. The drawback of that is that a shot at the wrong angle could shoot straight through the armor and into the hull and any time an enemy hits the Falcon, a part of his layer hull is vaporized. I use a military armor instead, less work."

Jaina said, "But it is also easier for a sensor to discover. It's a reason why Dad's ship is the fastest smuggler and infiltration warship in the galaxy. The Enterprise is far too unique to ever compete in the same league. The Enterprise is perhaps among the greatest pocket carriers and personal military transports in the galaxy."

George nodded, interested.

Danni nodded, "The two of you have completely different ways of solving the same problem. It's only the speed angle that you could compete with him in and he beat you there again, right?"

Xander sighed. "One day I am going to find someone able to make my x0.75 hyperdrive a x0.5."

George Lucas blinked. "Are you sure he's a Jedi Master?"

Anakin answered, snickering, "He looks and behaves strange for one, doesn't he?"

Lucas nodded, "Yes."

Anakin smiled. "He is one of the youngest ever to gain that title, closely followed by my sister. From what Uncle Luke said, he's a constant amusement for the other Jedi Masters, but he's also one of the best Jedi Masters he has in creating new solutions to difficult problems. So he has all the others' respect as a Jedi Master."

He grinned. "He was the inspiration to the honorary Jedi Master program, where one Jedi student is offered the chance to be part of the Jedi Council and help them with fresh young ideas and inspirations, the spontaneity only the young can have. As Master Luke says, with age comes wisdom and experience, but also the danger of becoming trapped in tradition. It also allows a young student a chance to learn from more than one Jedi Master."

George nodded. "That's the new Jedi order you're talking about then," he said.

Xander nodded. "I can tell you all I know about the old and the new. It's a dozy." The honorary Jedi Master was only there for a year, serving as a link between the students and the masters, helping them find new fresh ideas and inspirations, but also discovering problems before they become too difficult to handle. The current honorary Master or junior master was a young, 12 year old, Jawa who constantly came up with new ideas or solutions. She had barely finished giving one idea when a new idea popped in her head.

Of course, most were lacking in quality, but she sure made up for that with quantity.

The group entered the ship. George walked around looking at everything he only had imagined before. It was incredible and the sofa was intimidating. "What the hell is that?" he asked.

Xander answered, "Oh, it's a monster I had to fight on Kashyyk. It's a Terentatek, a Sith spawn monster. They made them as Jedi hunters, but they made three mistakes during their creation."

George swallowed. "What were the three mistakes?" he suspected he knew what it was.

Xander said, "They were too hard to kill, their favorite food was a Force user and they were always hungry. I was fighting a Mandalorian, Dana Fett, Bobba's adopted daughter, and our fighting made this beasty wake up. Both of us were lucky to survive. Dana later became a friend and one of the main reasons that the Mandalore has become friendlier towards us."

Jaina said, "George, one thing you have to understand is that the Mandalorian people consider an adopted child to be more important than a biological child. The adopted child is someone chosen by you. The biological is just what nature accidentally gave you."

Xander smiled. "It isn't that unusual that a Mandalorian adopts one of his biological children if they have proven worthy of becoming adopted also."

Jaina again, "Dana is a Force Guardian like we explained Chloe is. Dana's gift is precision, any long distance weapon, throwing weapon or close combat method is deadly in her hand. She only misses if the target moves or parries her attack. The battle between Xander and Dana was epic according to the Wookiee and Dana. The battle those two had against the monster has been even worse."

Xander blushed. "Nah, we were lucky."

George Lucas walked up between the jaw bone and teeth and fangs. It now was a sofa where 3 people, perhaps 3 and ½ could sit snuggled up and over them like a roof was the upper jaw with build in lamps and a curtain. "It's surprisingly comfortable," he said, testing it.

Xander grinned. "Yea, I love snuggling up in that."

George sat up. "Let us see the cockpit, can I sit in the co-pilot seat when we start?" he asked.

They nodded.

-KNM-

Hours later the Enterprise landed on the pad again

Loaded with stories and ideas George Lucas walked out. He had 3 movies to rewrite and another 3 movies to begin writing on the birth of the New Republic or should he say -Tales of the Jedi Legacy- ? Episode 7 followed by two more movies. Yeah, that sounded like a good name.

-KNM-

Two days later

Hammond looked sad as the Enterprise lifted up, this time for the last time.

It had been for him, the president and Vice-president a wild and weird ride, but they now had a working anti-gravity engine, an engine they could build. Repulsor engines were not that difficult to build. Understanding how the bugger worked was another thing though.

Carter was already talking about the spin of result from this. Gravity compensators to repress G-forces were based on repulsors. They knew how to build them now. Fighter planes could be, with minimum difficulties, equipped for vertical takeoffs and landings. With a g-compensator installed the fighter pilots would not have to worry about blacking out from high g-forces, only about whether the fighter could handle the g-forces or if it would break apart.

The blaster weapons they had would take years to solve, but the guys in R&R said the wave blaster design Anakin had given them would perhaps take only a month before they got a working design. A Wave Blaster was an arcane weapon used around 5000 years before Anakin was born, from the visitor's perspective. Regular guns did more damage than a wave blaster of the same weight and size, but a wave blaster equipped with a power pack could hold more ammunition than a normal Earth weapon.

The hyperdrive was just as impressive. It would take them years before they could manage to copy it, two or three years, but understanding it? According to Jaina, Anakin and Xander, the number of humans able to understand the quantum physics behind hyperdrive could be counted on one hand and that was in a galaxy with more human home worlds than Earth had countries.

The future would be interesting for sure and there she came.

The Dagger corvette was slightly damaged and in need of repairs, but came with good written repair instructions and they had the resources and the wish to do the work. Slowly the 200 meter long dagger like ship landed. It sure looked like a baby star destroyer.

Captain Carter and Teal'c had done perfect work flying it.

General Hammond sighed as he turned around. "Well General Landry, what do you think of this crazy asylum you will be in charge off?" He looked at the man whose promotion was just as fresh as his own.

He swallowed. "Well General, I'm not sure that I know."

Hammond smirked. "Don't worry. When the President ordered me to be an advisor to all things Star Gate related and gave me my promotion, I asked them to put you in charge, because I know you will do great work here." And the work would give him hell, even if it was work he would love, but Hammond kept that bit of wisdom to himself.

Standing on the platform was a sight he was not used to seeing, but he and the President had approved of his resigning and then being hired as a private consultant. Dressed as a civilian, Jack O'Neill watched the tiny vanishing spot in the sky which was the Enterprise. He wasn't the only human trained in the power of the Force. He knew he was no Jedi Knight, no way. Not yet, but he was on his way. He, like Teal'c and Daniel, would help the Star Gate and SG1, but not as part of the military. More like a Jedi, that was his future path. He smiled, petting the lightsaber on his belt. He would carry it with pride, serving as a protector and a Jedi Knight.

Jack laughed as he wondered if others would feel as ridiculous as he did. Talking about Jedi Knights made him sound like a mad dog fan boy.

-KNM-

A while later in space

Xander nodded to Dawn. He sat in the pilot seat and she in the co-pilot seat. "Get ready Dawn. Focus and seek the path home, then let our powers combine." Outside of the ship a whirling vortex was created and they vanished from the universe.

In the back of the ship Anakin read the instruction manual for the ring transporters they had installed. It was easy to use, but difficult to copy. He was sure that they would discover how these babies work and then watch out Republic, the Federation has transporters.

Chapter 19

Space, an endless void filled with countless of stars and planets, clustered together in a galaxy.

Yet it is nothing compared to the multiverse where anything you can imagine and then some exist somewhere or when.

The cold professional voice of Commander Susan Ivanova in the com-radio inside the Enterprise made Xander almost giddy. He had grown up in a world where the SF movie Star Wars never existed. With the help of TV shows like Star Trek, Battle Star Galactica and later Babylon 5 and Andromeda, he had become a SF freak. Then he ended up in the Star Wars universe and became a Jedi Master. In the short time he spent in the reality with the Star Gates, he had seen the universe he now called his home as movies and now he was actually landing inside Babylon 5, which to him was a TV series.

Now that was SO cool. He wondered if he could get Susan, Londo, G'kar, Delenn and Vir Cotto to sign an autograph. Xander sighed; no, he would not go all fanboy on them. He was a Jedi Knight, a Jedi Master.

There was just one thing, he really needed to buy or steal a Minbari fighting pike. Sure they could build one with more deadly abilities, but hey, he really wanted a real one.

As the Enterprise landed on the mobile dock and was slowly lowered down to the area of the station where rotation gave gravity, Xander once again looked around at the crew, almost smiling at how they looked.

Between Red and pink, knowing most of humanity was ruled by the Earth Alliance or the Interstellar Alliance, if they existed in this reality. There were already some discrepancies evident. First, the station was not 8 km long as B5 should be. It was 9.7 km, the size of B4. Second, there was the fact that in the welcome to the station they had said welcome to Babylon Prime and the station was painted green on blue. Being partial to green and yellow himself, he considered it a perfect color scheme.

The last difference was that the war between the Shadows and the Vorlons or the Old Ones was far more bloody and terrible than the TV show suggested, and the Minbari caste war was still going on. For the first time in a millennium, Minbari were killing Minbari.

Now being a SF geek Xander was not that confused about all this. Firstly, he knew that it was an alternative reality and secondly, he'd heard that the writer had wanted to blow up B5 at the end of the five year story line and have the vanished B4 arrive from the past, at which point a second five year story line would start. Apparently the TV Company considered that idea too expensive. So, he made another story about how B4 ended up in the far past during the Minbari Shadow war instead.

Besides if Babylon Prime was B4, it was a far cooler station, because it was mobile and not stationary like B5.

"You want to speak or just humiliate us some more?" the pink Riley asked, sounding not all that happy.

Xander smiled. No, he grinned. "Since you're human, everybody would believe you to be a part of the Earth Alliance or the Interstellar Alliance, which ever. They're at war. The shots you all got only gave you a more reddish tone of skin and made you look like Zeltrons and it's only for a week or so. That way we can all claim to be aliens or humans from a lost colony," he said, sounding innocent. Hoping Riley would never find out he asked R3 to lower the dose on Riley so that he would turn pink instead of bright red.

Dawn, who also asked R3 to change the dose, just smiled. "Oh, don't be such a pussy. You look fine, besides Buffy and you look cute like that," she said, looking at her sister who looked more like a boiled lobster than a normal Zeltron, a very very dark red.

Danni smiled. "I feel like I'm on my home planet. Let's have group sex,"She giggled, seeing them all scream no. Shocking humans was so much fun. Besides, as long as Dawn and Lexa were in the same room as Xander, Lexa's brother, Buffy, Dawn's sister, and Jaina was together with her baby brother Anakin, it would be wrong. After all, incest is wrong.

The two 15 year old girls could grab Chloe and have group sex with Anakin. That would be much better. Let the kids play with each other while the older guys and girls had their fun. Besides, Danni thought as she looked between Jaina and Xander, she really had all she wanted in life, a sexy wonderful husband and a just as sexy and wonderful wife. What more could a girl want? "We have to let Dawn, Lexa and Anakin and of course Chloe visit Zeltron as soon as possible or they might spend their teenhood without experiencing wild sex, poor kids." She was always worried about them.

Anakin put on his helmet as fast as he could, seeing that Lexa, Dawn and Chloe were looking at him.

"I refuse to say yes or no to any question concerning Zeltron or group sex. For the reason that Xander, Buffy and other people I respect yet fear might murder me in my sleep," he finished.

Buffy nodded, petting his helmet. "Good boy." She then turned to Dawn. "And no group sex for you. Danni, stop corrupting my sister."

"Buffy, I am not a child. She can corrupt me if she wants to," Dawn complained.

Willow swallowed. "Dawn, Buffy is you sister, you should listen to her. Right, Xander?"

Xander looked quickly at Danni. She returned the look with a choose my side or the floor buster kind of stare and he sighed. "Danni is my wife and I support her."

"Yes, I have the best brother and sister in law," Lexa grinned.

Xander said in a fearful tone, "Dad is going to kill me."

Behind them, "Buffy, if Lexa can do it, why can't I?" Dawn whined.

Jaina nodded. "That he will," she said, giggling. "Right, if anybody asks, we are from Zeltron, a planet that has isolated itself from the rest of the galaxy for a millennium. That's the reason we are unable to say where it is, as they made us forget that when we became scouts."

They all nodded.

Xander smiled. "Right, remember, our mission here is just sightseeing. Try not to get mixed up in any problems. Remember that they have a PSI-corps and aren't that kind to people with PSI abilities. So be careful." He was silent for a moment. "That sadly goes double for me and my sister, as she is a PSI and anybody hurting her would die by my hands," he sighed.

Lexa sighed. At least she would have a chance to party on Zeltron once they were home again.

Dawn sulked. Her sister just had to destroy every chance to have fun, but if Lexa had fun on Zeltron, perhaps she would have a chance to get Anakin.

Buffy glared at Anakin, her big-sister senses told her that the boy was up to something.

Anakin swallowed. He had the feeling his life would be in mortal danger if Lexa ever traveled to Zeltron. He had to stop her, without making Dawn any sadder.

Willow wondered if she should visit Zeltron, it sounded like a nice place, even if Danni scared her.

Xander smiled. "Right, let's do it." He had a feeling he had forgotten something though, something important.

The security of Babylon Prime watched as the crew of the Enterprise walked out. Being a ship with clearly an Earth name they had decided to keep a special watch.

They were not ready for what left the ship.

Dressed in armor with no visible weapons, a group of red and pink skinned human looking aliens walked out.

Thomas Ford looked at his partner. "Now that is new," he said. His partner nodded. The two security soldiers stared. For some reason the girl in dark red and pink armor got most of the stares as the group walked up to the entry hall and ID check out point.

Xander held a tight smile on his face as he let his eyes roam around, taking in everything he could without looking like a tourist. Without even thinking about it or even noticing it, he had the telepath trying to scan his mind fall of the chair in shock as the powerful mind shield, Xander had, gave him what would feel like a slap on his mind.

He cautioned the station security to keep their eyes up. Worried, he scanned the others and got slapped twice more by Danni and Jaina.

Even the others had powerful shields, too powerful for him to penetrate without being noticed, especially at a distance.

Jaina frowned. "What was that?" she asked in a low voice.

Xander shrugged. "A fly?" he asked back.

Danni, being an empath and a trained Jedi, said, "A telepath, the two of you probably slapped him silly without even realizing."

They blinked. They hadn't even noticed it.

"Passport control," Xander said.

They nodded, holding up their fake ID's. Xander grabbed them and presented them to the security officer. Xander smiled seeing the man scan the ID card. For a moment he thought that the officer would notice that they were fakes. "Everything fine with our ID's, correct?" he said, using a mild affect mind.

The officer nodded. "Everything is fine with your ID. That's correct," he confirmed, wondering why he thought differently a moment ago. "Keep moving," he said.

Xander and the others hurried through. He spoke out in Basic. "See, nothing to worry about." Indeed the Force has a strong impact on the weak minded. Then they vanished inside the huge station.

-KNM-

35 minutes later

"They are up to something," Garibaldi said, stroking his bald head with his hand. Something was off with these redskins. He knew he was paranoid. He also knew that that was one of his most effective weapons against their enemies.

His chief, Colonel Elizabeth Lochley, the commander of Babylon Prime, which was once called Babylon 4, before they stole it from the past to replace B5, nodded. "Something bad?" she asked.

Garibaldi nodded. "They gave one of our telepaths a brain smash and they have a ship with an Earth name and Scott at customs let them through even though if you look at the recording of the ID cards, you can see they're fakes," he grinned. "Even Scott would see that, weak minded fool that he is. He has a good eye. I trained him myself."

With rouge telepaths or Teeps, if you wanted to be political incorrect and insult them, running around, customs was a crucial bottle neck. The Second they left customs, they were out of sight and scan range.

Lochley nodded. "We keep an eye out for them and Michael, please do not use the word Teeps."

Michael Garibaldi, security chief, shrugged. "Never liked them and never will. Especially human telepaths and I recognize a human when I see it. They are Humans in dress up, except for that girl in pink armor and the leader, " he said, pointing out Danni and Xander on the screen.

After his mind wash episode, his dislike for telepaths had grown worse. Sure, he accepted Minbari Teeps grudgingly, but any Earth born Teep might have relations to the PSI-corps. That made them enemies. It wasn't like he would shoot them down in cold blood. No, he would wait until they broke the law and he had the legal right to pull the trigger. "But something is off with the skin color."

Elizabeth Lochley nodded. "Some kind of skin paint or an injection to change your color. You sure he is the leader?"

Zack Allan, the second in command, blinked as he remembered. "Chief, you said they're human except two of them?" he asked.

Michael nodded to them. "First, the paint I think is some kind of injection to change the skin pigment, but it's obvious about those two. The girl, her skin looks natural, unlike the others. The boy has changed his skin pigment like the others and from how the other moves and he acts, he is the leader, but what makes him not human are those things." he said, pushing a button, making the recording of the strangers enlarge the image.

He zoomed in on Xander, slowly zooming in on the neck.

Michael Garibaldi said, "Computer, play back 3 minutes, keep focus on stranger ID Zander."

The computer replied, "No Zander is found. Computer ID's a Xander. Is that correct?"

Michael rolled his eyes. "Yeah, that is what I said. Focus on Zander's neck."

The computer played back the sequence.

Michael smiled. He had been right. He had suspected something was strange with Xander's neck, alien strange, and now he could see it. "Did you see it?" he asked the others as the recording was finished.

Zack answered him. "Um, no Chief." There was something, but what?

Elizabeth sighed. "Do tell us what we missed. I don't have the time to play games." She had no urge to play games with Garibaldi. The man was paranoid, but had a scary talent in discovering things that should be impossible to find. On the other hand, people really were out to get Garibaldi, so it felt good having him on their side.

Michael Garibaldi sighed. "Computer, play back twenty five seconds and freeze picture," he said. "As I said. Not many humans have gills."

There was silence.

"Chief, you saw that from the beginning?" Zack asked with awe.

Elizabeth Lochley looked curiously, before something clicked. It might be a long shot. "Computer, do an alien comparison on an alien, red skinned, human looking, and an alien, human looking with gills." She looked down. "Do a scenario Human with Gils. Genetic space adaptation program 2150, the GSAP medical center. Is there such an adaptation recorded?"

"Affirmative, five aquatic adaptations are recorded. All samples were terminated. Four bodies were recovered. One body was lost, but presumed terminated," the computer's voice said.

Michael looked at her. "What the hell is the Genetic Adaptation program?" he asked.

Elizabeth answered. "A shame, 2138 they tried to develop a way to send generation ships out into space. They also started to experiment with genetics, adapting humans to alien worlds or for use as super soldiers in future wars. It was done with the utmost secret. 2150 they were active and going strong until a group of super humans with improved strength and aggression managed to escape in 2155-2156. It would have been a terrible scandal, but the same time the Centauri ship entered Earth's orbit and we were no longer alone."

"So you think they could be?" Michael asked.

Elizabeth Lochley shrugged. "I know they used samples stolen from telepaths and almost any racial group on earth and then mixed the genes of humans, animals and other fun things around, playing god." She was silent. "I could be wrong," she said. "The DNA sample from the ID card gave us a 60 % chance that they are human or related to humans. Not alien as the fake DNA suggest." It hadn't been a perfect scan, but it was enough to make it worth getting an improved scanner at the customs gate.

Zack said, "If they're run away humans as you believe, where have they been? And how did they escape?" Then he sighed. "Centauri's smuggled them out, right? Chief, we should get a new scan. Perhaps one of the boys could pick their garbage."

The others nodded. That was a likely scenario.

Michael Garibaldi said, "Already asked the boys to get their DNA without being seen or noticed."

"Well, whatever their origin is, it doesn't matter. We want to know what side they are on, without turning potential allies into enemies." Elizabeth said as she leaned forward. "Then there's that ship of theirs. Its design is unlike any of the known alien races. It clearly has access to advanced gravity technology. The weapon tech and the ion engine performance do not match with standard ion engines. Whatever it is, it's extremely effective."

Zack sighed. "That's much harder to do," he said, knowing it was much easier to find the truth with empty threats, some violence and a Teep doing a mind scan.

Michael said, "I bet we could scare the truth out of those guys without doing any harm to them just by asking one of those girls nice." He grinned. "We have big scary looking Narns. Simply arrange for a drunken Narn to make some trouble. During the chaos security will arrest all trouble makers and we get DNA samples and a chance to question who they really are, legally. We are at war now."

Lochley nodded. "Just be careful. They are children."

Michael protested, "I would not hurt a child, you know that. Scaring him or her? Yes, for sure, but not hurt them," he grinned. "Besides, it's not going to take much to scare one of those girls. How tough do you think they are?"

Lochley frowned as she watched the recording. "Did you notice that all of them moved like trained fighters or dancers?" she said, not looking at Michael.

Garibaldi blinked, switching his eyes back to the screen, looking through the recording again. "Damn, I missed that. Good of you to notice that, Boss." He shivered. His inner paranoia was screaming now. "Now I know they are up to something."

Zack had a complete different response. "Chief, you missed something basic like that?" he said. Even he had noticed that, well almost noticed that. He was distracted by the cute red skinned blond haired girl that was hanging from the pink man's hand. (Buffy and Riley)

Garibaldi shrugged. "So, we make different plans."

Babylon Prime was the military head quarters for the Interstellar Alliance, but also the diplomatic and a minor commercial Centrum where the allied could trade and meet in peace for a moment, forgetting the wolves standing outside their own doors.

Normally, having a military base working as a diplomatic and commercial center was a bad idea, but with the pure number of beings in the Interstellar Alliance, they needed more than just a simple military stronghold. They needed a beacon of hope. They needed a symbol of cooperation, a great hope of victory.

Babylon Prime

In the third age of humankind, Babylon Prime was a shining beacon of hope.

Babylon Prime, once called Babylon 4, was like Babylon 5 separated into sections. Each Sector divided in subsections and levels.

Blue Sector, maintenance and operational control, restricted area.

Red Sector was the commercial and recreational area. Babylon Prime was the main headquarter in the battle against the Shadows, but it was also a meeting place and a place of trade, where travelers could trade their goods in safety.

Green sector, diplomatic sector restricted to diplomatic and command personnel, restricted area.

Brown sector, down below, housing, industrial work which supported waste reclamation facilities and life support.

Grey Sector, atmosphere monitoring, alpha power stations, fabrication facilities and industrial fabrications, limited Restriction.

Yellow Sector, primary fusion core, fuel tanks, ion engine and hypergate engine, restricted.

-KNM-

Later in Red level 03, the business area.

The restaurant was perfect in keeping up their interest. Good exotic alien food, Earth delicacies and what was even more important, a chance to get away from the others. In a cramped ship like the Enterprise, time alone was a luxury.

Not that everybody cared about that.

In the corner snuggling up next to each other, with Xander in the middle, were Jaina and Danni, they were feeding him and he was having fun.

"How long are we going to stay?" Danni asked, wondering.

Xander shrugged. "Not long, perhaps another four or five days on Babylon, then we find a nice silent place to stay until Dawn and me have our bearings, then we move away from this universe. A month if we're lucky or three at worst." It was difficult to say exactly how long it would take. Strange streams and motions could suddenly extend or make it more difficult.

Jaina nodded. "We all needed time away," she said knowingly.

Danni smiled. "I just hope the terrible two aren't up to something," she said, wondering if Dawn and Lexa could keep their noses clean.

Xander smiled. "Not to worry. I asked Anakin to keep his eyes on them." He blinked. "You'd be surprised how happy the terrible two were when I ordered him to keep them out of trouble."

Jaina snickered, "Poor Anakin." Her baby brother's emotions were completely screwed up and confused. He didn't know which girl he liked the most.

Danni nodded. "He should date all of them, that's the simplest solution." She smiled.

Jaina looked over to Xander. "So, what are we going to do later?" she asked him.

Xander shrugged. "Relax, go to the spa, get a massage, a bath and relax some more, then later go dancing at the casino. The works, just me and the two girls I love the most."

The girls smiled as they kissed him.

-KNM-

Disclaimer: I do not own anything or so I claim, except a strange sense of humor.  
X-over: Probably many, but first is Buffy and Star wars. Then Star Gate and now we also have Babylon 5.  
All those mentioned above belong to their creators and not to me, sadly as it is.

Chapter 20

At the same time further away on Red level 01, the Garden.

Buffy looked at the area. It was huge. They could see a train moving above them in the center of the chamber and on the other side people were moving on the roof or was that the floor? As they were standing inside a rotating cylinder, the inside of which was the floor, she was just seeing the floor curve above her.

It was confusing in Buffy's mind. The center of the cylinder had Zero-G, she knew that, gravity by rotation. Inside Buffy's brain things were happening, month after month of overwork and lack of sleep brought things coming out.

Beside her Riley grinned, "Impressive. Where we live they have far more impressive tech and this still feels more impressive than most things I've seen at home. My new home, I should probably say."

Buffy nodded. "Yeah, I know this is like so low tech, but it still blows my mind." she said, considering the complexity of a hyperdrive or the simple yet complex design of a repulsor. Not to speak of the ion-engine, which was in fact more advanced than a simple Ion engine should be.

Deep inside Buffy things started to happen as she tried to relax. For months now she had overworked her poor brain, forcing herself learn things faster than she normally should, using just pure will power. Learning things that were to hard or even too complex for her to learn so fast. Yet she learned it, forcing her brain to work faster and better than it should, refusing to accept that she should be unable to learn those awfully difficult lessons of engineering and repairs at that rate. Unknown to the others, she had spent hours after hours reading and studying, barely sleeping more than one hour or less each night.

Now Buffy finally let her overworked brain relax and things happened. Her Force power, granted by her Force guardian skill, had worked hard at keeping her sanity intact and keeping her brain from collapsing from overwork.

Buffy kept thinking about strange objects, like a gravity booster that warped space around the engine, giving the ship far more speed than a normal engine. Earth-Moon should be less then.

Hmm. She calculated a standard transport class 2 engine with 20 Mglt cruising speed should take around 30 minutes, from standing on Earth to standing on the Moon, and that using only normal cruising speed, not the full speed of 80 Mglt. (Mglt is the ship's acceleration, not the speed the ship is moving in.)

Then it would be around 7 minutes.

Xander's Enterprise had a class 11 engine, with 110 Mglt cruising speed and a full speed of 440 Mglt.

Buffy grinned, as the speed was acceleration, not actual speed. The time should be waste difference between cruising, full speed or all out. Normally, cruising was x1 speed and full speed was x2 of cruising speed. Now, the engine would start to get damaged, if you kept it up too long and fuel consumption was increased by a factor of 4 compared to normal. All out was x4 time the speed of cruising and the ship's engine would start overheating in seconds or minutes, depending on the engine and ship. Military engines could often keep up full speed longer than a civilian ship. Fuel consumption during all out speed was around 16 times compared to the normal cruising speed.

Considering that it was acceleration, she was not sure if it would be 7 minutes or shorter for a transport at full speed. As it was acceleration, she would have to take in Delta-V, which made it a total nightmare.

"Buffy, what are you thinking about?" Riley asked her.

Buffy answered him, "O nothing, just how nice it is being here." Damn you Xander! Thanks to you I have engineering on my brain. She gave Riley her best fake smile.

Behind them a Minbari telepath frowned as he sighed. "She has some of the strongest mental shields I have ever detected. All I saw in her mind were rockets and calculations, trying to find out what Delta-V are for a ship. She is correct, as acceleration is involved, the journey time is not cut in half, if the ship moves at double the speed it's..." He stopped as the other stared at him.

The Narn agent sighed, "What about the male?"

The PSI-telepath Minbari replied, "From him I detected only that he exists and is alive, nothing more. Not even where he's standing. My eyes can see him, but my mental ability is unable to detect where he is, just that he is nearby." He shivered. That kind of mental shielding would make it quite easy for somebody to fight a PSI.

Behind them Buffy and Riley walked away. Deep inside Buffy's mind the question bothering her was that of Delta-V and the full speed and time it would take for a ship to reach the Moon and if she could make the ship go faster.

Suddenly the silence in the garden was breached as Buffy started to scream.

"You be quiet, brain, or I'm going to stab you with a Q-tip!" Buffy raged. Doh, she'd watched too much Simpsons lately.

Riley swallowed and asked, "Um Buffy, are you alright?"

The raging Force guardian nodded. "Yeah, just been reading too much engineering lately, can't get Delta-V out of my mind," she yelled.

Riley nodded. Being around crazy girls was nothing new. Each month the whole ship, except for the captain, Anakin and himself was full of crazy girls full of hormones, so he was used to it. "Right, let's go back to the ship. I'm sure R3 and R6 could help you."

Considering that most of the girls on the ship were super powered in one way or the other, the amount of strange female behavior Riley experienced inside the Enterprise had made him immune to any terror he could experience, at least according to his own opinion, and gave him a radar like skill in recognizing when a female was about to go crazy or do something crazy.

All right, perhaps Buffy's Force guardian ability had not done the best of jobs in keeping her sanity intact, but it had managed to improve her learning ability.

Behind them the Minbari Telepath said, "I have to find out the calculation rules of Delta-V, it's driving me nuts." He hurried away.

The Narn said, "Alright. Warn the others, reading the minds of these people can be dangerous. They seem to have a mind defense based on calculation. At least this one did."

-KNM-

Seconds before in a hired gym at Red level 02

Chloe and Rona were helping Willow train and currently Chloe and Willow were sparing. Unseen and unknown to them cameras recorded everything so that a paranoid Garibaldi could spy on them.

On the training floor Willow stood in a modified Ataru stand. The Aggression form, the most acrobatic form of combats using elaborate moves, it relies heavily on the Jedi ability to run, jump and spin using the Force. Like all lightsaber combat forms, it could be used unarmed, if you knew how. Xander had taught her that trick. He taught them all that trick, since it was simple really. Let the Force and your skill guide you.

Willow did not really like training fights, but she knew she needed to learn this and Ataru, it felt right, it was her way of fighting. In the beginning she liked Soresu, the defense form, but as she advanced, her taste had changed. Xander had said that would happen more than once. Most Jedi found what form they truly favored around the time they became a real Jedi Knight. For some it took years longer.

Ataru and form 6 Niman were her favorites, Ataru as her primary fighting style and Niman as the fallback form. Xander had taught them a lot about always having a fallback form. Swift changes between the way you acted and moved during combat could save your life.

On the side Rona watched as the two started to move. A shy looking mouse like Willow adopting an offensive form like Ataru was surprising, but then she was one of the heroes of Sunnydale, a normal girl who refused to hide from the vampires, even if she was shy, weak and afraid. Somewhere deep inside Willow was a warrior waiting to strike its way out. "KICK ASS," she screamed and the friendly fight started.

Chloe grinned. She herself was standing in Soresu form. Her Force guardian ability made her much harder and stronger than a new Jedi student like Willow, for instance because of her ability to predict movements. Willow knew that of course. If her ability to predict was better than Chloe's ability to predict, then she would hit Chloe.

Rona watched the two. Standing still, trying to out predict the other's potential moves, both were deep inside the Force, trying to sense what the other could would or should do in combat and not moving an inch. She sighed as Willow tried to out predict Chloe.

"Willow, Chloe's ability to predict an attack is better than of most Jedi, but it is also limited, two different attacks in the same way and it always will pick the most dangerous one first and like the Jedi, it's limited in how many attacks it can predict. The more you push Chloe or an enemy Jedi in combat, the more difficult it is for her to predict your movement," Rona said.

"Standing still trying to out predict her just doesn't work," Rona did not say that fighting Chloe would not work that well either, especially for a beginner as Willow actually was. That was for Willow to learn the hard way.

Willow nodded and then got an idea. "I see, alright, time to fight. Feel the dragon Willow," she said to herself, pretending to be Bruce Lee. Confusing your enemy, that always worked. She attacked, using the Force to speed up her motion. She sent her fist first right towards Chloe's head.

Chloe blinked. "Dragon? What the..?" She blinked in pain as she fell back from the fist in her face.

Rona blinked, seeing Chloe on the floor watching the roof. "You're supposed to give Willow lessons in combat, not lose on the first pass."

Chloe answered, "I... I was distracted. She was talking about dragons and..." She was surprised.

"YAY, it worked!" Willow crowed with joy. Then she froze. "O god, did I hurt you?" she asked as she rushed over to Chloe, trying to help her.

" doctor. And I'm babbling now, right?" she said, talking faster than the speed of light.

Swallowing the blood in her mouth Chloe stood up before Willow was even near her. A swift kick at Willow's feet send the red head flying face first in to the soft walls. They were in a gym with soft walls to protect students from accidents during wall collisions.

Chloe said, "No, you surprised me. Good for you. Now I'm taking you seriously," she looked down at Willow who was eating the wall.

Willow spit out the wall as she stood up. "It worked. I... I talked about Dragon like Bruce Lee and you got all? What the, and I attacked." Seeing Chloe was beginning to be distracted again, she attacked.

Chloe gritted her teeth. "Yes it worked, but it will only work once," she was interrupted again by Willow's fist hitting her in the face. "Only works twice," she corrected herself and groaned out. "You will feel pain for that Willow."

Willow smiled. "That's how I survived in Sunnydale, surprise the suckers," she smiled a friendly love filled smile.

Rona slapped her hand over her face, not knowing whether she should feel shame over Chloe loosing or pride in how strong and confusing Willow was. Whatever, she just knew any Dark Jedi facing Willow would be in for a nasty confusing distraction.

On the floor Chloe attacked this time, but she had to interrupt the attack as Willow almost grabbed the hand. It was lucky for her that Willow was so new at fighting that she didn't have the speed to create a good counter attack as Chloe moved back out of balance. Now Willow moved, using Force jump and Force speed as she started to test Chloe's defense from as many directions as possible at once.

Chloe, being physically one of the weakest and slowest Force guardians still had no real trouble in keeping up with Willow. Her ability to sense attacks before they happened more than made up for her lack of physical abilities.

As Willow used the Force to reach twice the speed a human should be able to move at, Chloe just kept moving at her natural speed. From the eye of the camera it looked far different.

-KNM-

Play back.

"Mu ha haha haha! Dragon. That was good," Garibaldi laughed and then looked to his tech "Why are you playing the camera on fast forward?" he asked. No way could the red head talk that fast.

The tech answered, "Um, that's live action sir."

Garibaldi stopped laughing. Now he felt the sour taste of paranoia. "Give me a written report on everything they say." Then he watched as the brunet Chloe got sucker punched again. "Muahahaha!" Now this was a good fight. He looked at the tech. "Want some popcorn?" he asked, holding out the bucket.

Installing a popcorn machine in the security camera room was his best idea ever.

Then he felt fear slap him in the back as the two started to fight.

The tiny red head was jumping around like a crazy frog, moving at speeds twice normal of human speed.

"That's not possible," he said in awe.

The crazy theory off gen modified super soldiers suddenly didn't sound that crazy at all.

-KNM-

Inside the gym

Chloe was not happy. Willow wasn't that good at fighting, but she seemed to have a naturally ability to surprise you. Now it was Chloe that ruled the floor, kicking, hitting and jumping as she pushed Willow back. Willow dodged, parried and slashed out with her fist, but Chloe dodged. She desperately called on the Force and tried to move faster.

Chloe noticed Willow speed up as the redhead jumped over her. Chloe changed into full speed, doubling her strength and speed, catching Willow's shoulder with her arms, and slammed her back first into the floor.

"Ouch! Ouch," came from the floor. Even with the soft impact floor, that hurt. Willow saw stars as she tried to move.

Rona said, "No Willow, you might be hurt." She was using her med-scanner to see if Willow was fine.

Chloe swallowed, "I... I over did it, right?"

Rona nodded, "Yes, you did. She isn't as tough as you are." That was true. The Jedi could become as hard and tough as a Force guardian, even more powerful when they wanted to, but the moment they lost connection to the Force, they were just normal beings. While Jedi had the ability to manipulate the Force on a greater scale then the Guardians could, the guardian physical abilities were always active, making them able to take more physical damage than most Jedi ever could.

Lowbacka being a Wookiee and a Jedi was stronger and physical harder to hurt than many guardians just because of his alien physique.

Willow was not as hard to hurt as Chloe was.

Rona relaxed. Willow was unhurt, just bruised and a bit groggy. "Willow, use Force healing," she said.

Willow nodded as she started to heal. That was another ability the Jedi were stronger in.

Force healing was faster than their ability was, but a Jedi had to consciously activate their ability to heal wounds. If they were too hurt, they might be unable to focus enough to do it. A Force Guardians ability to heal was constantly active, no concentration needed.

On the floor Willow started to sleep as her body was healing the bruises.

"You are carrying her to the changing room," Rona ordered Chloe.

Chloe grumbled. "What? Why do I have to carry her?" she whined. One look from Rona made her stop. "I'm sorry. I... I forgot in the heat of combat." She sighed and lifted Willow up. She felt bad, really bad about hurting Willow like that, but the redhead had great potential in Ataru. That was one thing both of them could see.

Chapter 21 

Almost at the same time in Sector Brown, also known as Down Below

Anakin looked around as the terrible two walked before him, well, the cute two, the sexy two and the trouble making two, if he was honest with himself. They were also called Dawn and Lexa.

The idea to visit this place was a bad one. On the bad idea scale between 1 to 10, where 10 was stealing the Enterprise for a joy ride, this was close to a 15 according to him, but both Dawn and Lexa had used the puppy dog eye attack and here he was. Baby sitting them and boy did they enjoy it. In the café both had insisted that he should sit in the middle. Both Dawn and Lexa had tried sitting on his knee, claiming they were just babies and he should take care of them.

The 15 year old Jedi Knight in training started to understand just what could drive a Jedi crazy. It was girls. At least now he knew that Chloe was just a friend and nothing more. The two nut cases in front of him were his main problem. Which of them did he like the most and why could the two 15 year old girls not behave like 15 year olds?

At least Dawn, being a Jedi student, should respect him more, but no, she just said she was sorry and asked if he wanted to spank her, making Lexa laugh and Buffy glare at him.

Anakin sighed. When they weren't driving him nuts, they were his best friends. He always had fun with them. They always made him smile and he knew both girls would die to protect each other and him, just as he would to protect them. Unless they managed to drive him nuts first, that is.

"Anakin look, scary looking aliens," Dawn pointed. "I'm scared, let's snuggle while we walk," she said, hugging Anakin from one side.

Before he had a chance to say anything Lexa interrupted them. "Hey, I'm scared too. I need some snuggling too," she said, hugging Anakin from the other side.

Anakin turned even redder, than his face already was thanks to the fake skin pigment they were wearing, he looked infrared. Both girls looked at each other and grinned. It was so much fun to do that.

They watched as they came out into the market of Down Below where poor beings, who escaped the war and then gotten trapped by economical problems, tried to make a living, selling anything they had created, stolen or owned for a cheap penny.

For some it was to buy more drugs or alcohol and for others for the need of medications or food, as they were hiding from the law or just from the war.

-KNM-

A short moment later

While the three teens snuggled up as they walked around Down Below and the tiny stores with home-made things and stolen goods, they were not walking around unseen, hidden by the shadows the local criminals kept an eye on them.

Three kids wearing rich clothing and spending money like it was nothing. Now that would be an easy ticket.

On the side, hidden under a cloak, another being watched, his skin lizard like and eyes dark, as he looked on with an inhuman expression. The Narn almost growled in irritation. Those kids would have the underworld on their back unless they walked right out of here.

The criminals felt the holidays were coming early as Dawn pointed out a restaurant and pub they could go into. Lexa agreed right away, since in there nobody would ask their age and she wanted to play pool, billiard or darts, even a dice game would be fun. She'd always wanted to try those games against other beings.

In her own reality she was not allowed to and nobody wanted to play with her even just for fun, just because she was a PSI-Kinetic. "I want to play a game or two. I bet I can win," she said, pulling Anakin after her. Especial now as she could use her telekinetic powers, she would rule any pool table, and even without it she was good.

Dawn grinned as she grabbed Anakin's other hand. "Yeah," with her Force telekinetic and Lexa's PSI-Telekinetic, they would rock the place, but only if the others started to cheat or were nasty.

Anakin mumbled, "I... I don't think this is a good idea." He was looking directly at the Narn following them. His eyes said only one thing: HELP, but the girls and the Narn ignored him.

-KNM-

Moments later inside the pub

They had games, many games.

It hadn't taken long for the girls to get mixed up in a game of pool hustling. They found a game of 2 player VS 2 player pool, a Centauri version of the billiard game. The players, a pair of Centauri, seemed to enjoy fooling the young humans. They faked their skill like an expert and lost the first round completely. "Wow, you two are good," one of them said. His partner nodded and then looked carefully at his partner. "What do you say, one more game? Our luck has to get better soon."

He looked at the girls. "What do you two say to double the money?" He smirked. "Or are you afraid or just don't have the cash?"

Dawn grinned. "No, we have the cash and the guts," she said, then smiled. "But the first round was all we wanted."

Lexa nodded, "Right, it would be fun to play another round, but I don't think so." She leaned forward. "I'm not stupid; I can smell a hustler a light year away. So no more games and thanks for the cash."

The two Centauri blinked, that wasn't supposed to happen.

The biggest of them growled. "Hey, you can't just walk away, you owe us a chance to win back our money," he said.

Anakin sighed. "They don't owe you anything," he said, staring at the two. "Let's go Dawn, Lexa."

The two girls nodded.

Dawn could feel the aggression was rising. She switched to Basic, so that nobody would understand her except Lexa and Anakin. "Um Lexa, be ready to rumble," she said.

Lexa just nodded and raised her kinetic shields. She looked around and saw a group of scruffy looking beings had entered the pub and were looking at them. The pool playing Centauri were walking towards them, one was holding the cue in his hand like a weapon and the other one was pulling out a knife.

Anakin sighed. "You two just had to challenge the two most aggressive players in a room full of aggressive beings, didn't you?"

The two girls blushed as Dawn said, "Um sorry, it's a talent."

Lexa agreed. "Yeah, we didn't mean to, but I'm sure you can handle them."

Anakin nodded. "Yeah, just watch my back," he said.

The two Centauri snorted, "What can you do human? We are trained in the Centauri fighting arts," he said, swinging his cue at Anakin's neck.

Anakin just dodged under the swing and grabbed the hand, not even using the Force to improve his own strength as he twisted until he heard a crack. "I can break your arm," he said, looking at the knife wielding Centauri. "Do you really want to fight me?" he asked, deciding not to use the Force to affect the others mind or to order him away. It could far too easily be mistaken as PSI ability.

The knife fighter blinked. Then he attacked and unlike his friend, he was far more skilled in combat.

Behind them the criminals started to move inside. Time to attack and steal all the money.

Anakin dodged the first slash of the knife, as he felt the attack against the girls. He ignored it as he slammed his fist into the shoulder of the Centauri, this time using the Force to improve his own strength. The Centauri felt like a he had been kicked by a horse as he fell down onto the table. The shoulder bone was broken by Anakin's hard gauntlet protected fist. This was not a normal child. He was a trained fighter.

The Centauri lay still.

Behind them another brawl had broken out.

Dawn dodged the first attack and used the Force to speed herself up. Using a mix of Soresu, she parried the first two criminals and then switched to the karate Riley had shown her. Her karate was in reality a mix of karate and the Jedi art of unarmed Niman with a lot of unarmed Zeltron fighting Fu added in.

"Ha, fear my Kung-Fu, fools!" Dawn yelled as she attacked.

Lexa sighed, as she just waved, ignoring any hits or kicks the criminals directed at her, protected by her kinetic shield. Using Kinetic-Hold on the criminal trying to grab her, she froze him and using a kick on his leg she got him to fall down to the floor. As the criminal started to fall, she freed him from her kinetic-hold and let him crash down to the floor.

It did look a bit strange as one of them tried to stab her twice and missed each time. In truth the knife just couldn't penetrate the thick air around her. He stared in fear at her as she just grinned, slapping the criminal over his nose. The alien criminal fell down writhing in pain as Lexa had just smashed his facial pleasure organ.

Anakin walked slowly in to the brawl. Dawn and Lexa were doing fine. He shrugged as he moved to the bartender. "Give me some fruit juice. Orange or tomato juice, if you have it," he said.

The bartender blinked and then nodded.

A big looking Narn frowned. "Are you not going to help your girls?" he asked, hiding his security uniform under dirty robes. Anakin looked up and saw the Narn who had been following them. "No, there are only nine criminals." He looked. "Unless they have some real weapons, I'm not that worried."

Really, fists, knives and other physical weapons weren't something Lexa should be worried about, unless they pulled out some heavy artillery. Her kinetic shield could protect her from such attacks much better than what most Force abilities could do and while Dawn's skills in combat were lacking, she was moving fast, using a mild Force push now and then and kicking ass. Besides, the two girls had trained with Buffy, Xander, Riley, Jaina, Rona and himself. Even Danni had taught them a fighting trick or two from the teachings of the Zeltron fighting arts. Therefore Anakin was not that worried, the Zeltron fighting arts were just as deadly as the Zeltron were friendly.

The Narn eyes almost fell out of their sockets seeing the dark haired girl ignore a knife attack and not be affected by it. It looked like the knife couldn't even penetrate the air around the girl.

On the floor Dawn brushed of her gauntlet protected fist. "And that's that," she said with pride.

Lexa nodded. "Yeah, bring better criminals next time," she offered as advice.

Dawn was not happy. "Alexandra. That's wrong to say," she fumed. "Sorry lowlife, next time, get an honest job. Crime doesn't pay." She turned to her friends. "Don't encourage them to keep doing crime."

Lexa shrugged. "Honestly, do any of them look smart enough to survive either being a criminal or honest work? And its Lexa, not Alexandra." She hated Alexandra, her alternate version of Willow, the Queen Willow, had always mocked her name. It was thanks to her older friend Cordelia, a nice friend, but a book geek, that she had gotten the nick-name Lexa.

Dawn looked down on the criminals. "Um. No?" Then her face lit up. "But the two pool hustlers looked smart enough to take on work as janitors."

Anakin sighed. "You know, on our ship we call those two the terrible two. Not without a reason." He stood up. "Let us go, girls," he said, offering his hands to the girls.

A squeal was heard as they jumped him, arguing about left or right side.

The Narn blinked.

Only seconds later his reinforcement arrived, but by then the three were gone.

-KNM-

Xander was just relaxing and dancing with Jaina in the top floor casino when his and her communicator went off. Both he and Jaina were irritated as they read the messages. Buffy was sick.

A short moment later Jaina, Danni and Xander rushed out towards the Enterprise.

It was a worried group that entered the ship. An equally worried Riley and R3 were meeting them.

Inside her cabin Buffy laid on the bed. She looked like she was sleeping, but R3 and the medic droid on the Enterprise both said the same thing. She had entered a coma and they had found no reason why.

"I don't understand it. She just collapsed," Riley said, worried.

Dawn swallowed as she held Buffy's hand. "Wake up Buff." For the first time since she and her sister had become lost in the multiverse, leaving both Sunnydale and her mother behind, Dawn felt alone and lost. It was not an emotion she liked. Being a naturally optimistic person, she always looked on the bright side of things, but right now she could see with her own eyes that there weren't many good things happening and being so sad and afraid was not an emotion Dawn was used to.

Lexa said, "Yo Dawn, she's strong, she'll get better."

Dawn swallowed. "Really? I... I can't feel her. She is alive, but I can't feel her within the Force," she said, worried.

Xander's eyes narrowed as he stretched out his consciousness. The young Jedi Master touched the mind of the Slayer and then searched it out. "She is there Dawn, but hiding so deep down I almost missed her. Remember, as a Force guardian Buffy has stronger mind defenses than normal. It seems to be aimed against her at this moment." He was actually afraid.

What had happened? That was the question. If they knew that, they'd know how to fix it.

R3 connected himself to his translator and started to speak. Out of principle he was against using Basic, he wasn't an irritating protocol droid. He was an Astromech droid and just because Xander and Jaina had given him the ability to speak common didn't mean that he liked doing it. Something he had explained to Xander and Jaina's to their amusement, but this time R3 did speak. His voice surprised all of them. "MD-5 and I have used our medical skills to determent what is wrong with Buffy. So far we have seen nothing wrong. Our strongest recommendation is seek out a second opinion, somebody with local medical expertise."

He stopped talking and beeped to Xander that they should do it now and not to be lazy and risk her life.

Xander, being able to understand binary, nodded. "Right, it's Buffy life. R3, prepare to remove the fake pigment, since it could be at fault." He was silent as R3 beeped. "I see, you did that already and Buffy will be normal by tomorrow. Right, prepare it for the rest of us. Riley, call Babylon Prime's medical center and ask for medical support. We need help."

Michael Garibaldi could not believe it. Christmas came early. The strangers that made him so nervous had asked for medical assistance.

"No, I already know what you're going to ask. You will not ask them any questions or intimidate them," Stephen Franklin said in quite a serious tone of voice.

Garibaldi felt like a child discovering Christmas had been canceled. "It's just a small number of questions. Just to be safe. They could be working for the Shadows," he said.

Stephen looked at him and raised his eyebrows and looked back towards the medical room. "Those guys?" he asked.

Michael looked back in the medical room where all of them, including a strange robot, were standing around a med table where the sick girl Buffy was sleeping in a deep coma. No, they looked worried about the young girl. He looked at his computer. Dawn was even crying, and he didn't have to be a telepath to know they had emotions and love.

"Alright, Shadows might be wrong, but they're too good and too well trained." He was interrupted.

"You are correct Mr. Garabaldi. We are well trained and we do belong to something," Xander said as he walked up to them silently. Unnoticed, thanks to the Force. "What we are, is wanderers, knights of an arcane order that studied both fighting and other more esoteric skills and powers, like the techno-mages, but less tech and more mystic," he said with a smirk. "We are neutral and only fight to defend," he finished.

Stephan swallowed. The presence of the young man was screaming out, 'I am not an enemy, even if I am more dangerous than a hungry lion.' The fact that the young man's eyes glittered, shifting in yellow and green, didn't make him any less intimidating.

Of course Garibaldi was not intimidated. "So you say. How does it come that we never heard of your order before? Want to know what I think?" he said, walking up face to face with Xander.

Xander answered: "No, I don't really want to know what you think. Do you want to know what I know?"

Garibaldi blinked. That punk, he made him look like a fool.

"Chief, calm down," Zack, Garibaldi's second, said. "And you too, that's an order."

Xander blinked, Garabaldi blinked. Both of them looked at each other and then towards Zack. "You can't give me orders," both said at the same time.

Colonel Lochley interrupted both of them from more arguing. "Hold it, both of you. I can give you orders Garibaldi and you, fish-boy, unless you calm down, I am personally going to see how well you swim in vacuum. Understand?" she said.

Xander nodded.

Garibaldi nodded. "Yes mam," he said.

"Quite bossy, isn't she?" Xander asked Garibaldi, who to his own terror agreed. "Yeah, she is."

Elizabeth frowned. "Come here Mr. Garibaldi, I have to talk to you," she said.

As the commander of the base discussed rank with her chief of security, Xander returned to Buffy, still in deep coma.

Stephen sat down on the nearby bed. "I have tested everything I could and found nothing. Her readings indicate she has an above human healing ability, strength, speed and damage tolerance. Is there anything you can tell me about her, anything that could give me a clue?" he asked.

R3 connected himself to the computer, showing the normal operational levels that Buffy performed with in.

"Now that's impressive, if it is true," Stephen said.

Rona grabbed a nearby small table with wheels made of steel. "I am the same as she, watch," she said, bending the table until it was nothing more than a tiny ball of steel.

Stephen nodded. "You'll have to pay for that, but that was an impressive display of strength." He was baffled actually. Buffy was perfectly fine. It looked like her own body was attacking her, forcing her into a deep coma. "I recommend having a PSI investigate her. Her own body is keeping her in a coma for no obvious physical reason."

R3 beeped out a question.

Xander blinked. "You think it is?" He hummed. "Buffy is stubborn. If she wanted to learn something, she'd learn it and in record time. She recently started to learn advanced mechanic, engineering and ion repair skills and doing impressively well. Still, her IQ level is actually slightly below the standard level of intelligence, something most don't know."

"What, she is stupid?" Dawn said in surprise. "But, Buffy can't be stupid, she learned French and Latin and other things in record time according to Giles. She mastered high school math and so she can't be stupid."

Xander smiled. "I'm sure she's pleased about your support and she isn't stupid, but the test we did showed that her skill in logic and memory is not as good as her ability for understanding social interaction or learning new physical skills. Anyway, she has on more than one occasion been able to force herself to learn things that should take her years to learn or even be impossible for her to understand in months only."

That clicked. Stephen reread the medical file R3 had given him.

Buffy and Rona had healing ability and an ability to increase their physical ability, double their strength and speed for a short moment, at least according to the medical file, but only for a short moment.

"I know what has happened," Stephen Franklin said, "If I am correct, Buffy will wake up perfectly fine without any side effects." He smiled. "The solution is in your own file. Rona, Buffy and Chloe here have the ability to improve their physical skills, doubling strength and speed. Correct?"

All of them nodded.

Stephen continued, "I suspect that Buffy has done the same, but instead doubled her mental abilities while combining that with forcing herself to survive with only a limited amount of sleep, one or two hours at most. She has been doing that for such a long time that her brain and body is overstressed and her healing ability interfered to save her life." He pushed a button on the computer as he scanned the result.

"Aha. There it is. High levels of adrenalin and other stress related hormones in her body. I almost missed them because it normally has nothing to do with a coma, but in this case, if what you said is true, they do indicate the cause." He leaned back. Incredible, the ability to double your own body's mental and physical abilities, he thought.

Xander blinked. Jedi could use the Force to double their ability to solve problems or remember things that happened years ago with perfect recall. Why was he surprised that the Force Guardian could do something similar and that Buffy had abused that skill? "Is she in danger?" he asked.

Stephen frowned while looking at the readings. Her body's healing ability was actually attacking the body, forcing it to sleep at a coma level. Yet another part of the body was trying to wake her up. "Yes, she is in danger. She is fighting herself right now."

He looked down on the readings. "I'm not sure if sleep medication would be wise at the moment. A mild relaxant should help. Sleep medication could make the situation worse."

R3 read the file and his medical program agreed with the situation, Buffy was fighting. Buffy VS Buffy and if the wrong person won, she would die. The worst part was that Buffy always won. Which Buffy was the right one to win, the part that was the body or the one that was spirit?

R3 beeped out a depressed sound.

Jaina petted him on his dome shaped head. "Don't worry, between you and Dr. Stephen, Buffy is in perfect hands."

Xander asked the doctor, "Will you mind, if we let our house doctor R3 stay with Buffy?"

R3 sighed. He would have to use the voice. "I am an expert in human physiology and in Guardian and Knight specific problems. It would be a wise thing to have my presence in keeping her alive," he said and stopped talking.

A voice from the door interrupted them. "It can talk?" Garibaldi asked, "Why has it just used beeping and whistling sounds then?"

Xander answered him, "The whistling sound is binary, an advanced computer language, which is a thousand times more effective than English. Humans trained well enough can learn a simple version of binary, enough for them to understand if a droid talks simply and slow." He looked at Garibaldi. "R3 is a mechanical pilot aid with a medical upgrade to his programming. He is a sentient being and a free member of our crew, not a tool or slave, but a member of our ship. He considers English to be primitive and slow and prefers to use binary only."

Astromech are rarely equipped with human speaking equipment, as they were rather direct when they spoke, often considered rude. R3 considered English and Basic to be primitive and a stupid way of communicating.

-KNM-

(If he could speak Swedish I am sure R3 would consider that to be slow and stupid also. Binary is just that awesome according to R3 that not even Swedish would work. Says the writer, who is from Sweden and considers Swedish to be a superior way of communication, although my beta might object. The voice of the poor overworked beta, "Me? Never, I always liked the Swedish chef in the Muppet show, hmm how was he called? Smörebröt? His rumblings always sounded quite superior." (Beta lies on the floor from laughing too much) (And the second beta, who happens to be a Finn from a Finnish-Swedish family, just rolls her eyes at all the antics and ignores the duo. Although, she did always like the Swedish chef on Muppets, too.))

-KNM-

Xander looked at Garibaldi. "I expect you or your security people to keep an eye out, so that nobody tries to kidnap R3. I would be more than angry if that happens." He smirked. Not that he was that worried. After all he was planning on remaining nearby and keeping an eye on Buffy.

Danni nodded. "Don't worry. I'm going to help keep an eye out on Buffy and Dawn."

Xander smiled, walked over and hugged her. "You aren't alone. All of us plan to do that. Even though we can remain awake longer without sleep then normal people, we still need to sleep. We're of far more use to Buffy and Dawn rested and refreshed, if something happens." He knew he would have trouble sleeping himself, so he felt like a hypocrite telling the others to take time and rest.

"You big hypocrite," Jaina said. Her voice was filled with both love and irritation. "Knowing you like I do, I know that you'll be the one that won't be able to sleep."

Dawn, Willow, Danni, Riley, Rona, Chloe, Anakin and Lexa stared at him.

Xander shrugged. "In this case it's a do as I say, not as I fail to do," he said, smiling at the girls and Riley.

A snorting giggling sound came from Lochley, which reminded them that the Commander of Babylon Prime was still in the room.

Xander sighed. "Now, what makes us so interesting that security and the Commander of Babylon Prime is keeping their eye on us?" he asked.

Garibaldi answered with an empty smile, "Let me start. Advanced ship using gravity and an Ion drive, fake ID's, indications of telepathy and telekinetic powers and that's just for starters. "

Elizabeth Lochley said, "If I say genetic space adaptation program, what do you say?"

Xander blinked at the strange question, but the name sounded ominous. "Not much. From the tone of your voice, GSAP has an ominous meaning."

Elizabeth nodded. "When you brought in Buffy we did a DNA scan. Most of you are humans. You Xander are a mutated form of human, an unknown aquatic adapted version with a superior muscular and physical body. Jaina and Anakin are humans, but have a different unknown DNA string. They are still human with a slight mutation or something, perhaps from a race that has adapted to an alien planet." She looked at him. "But that type of adaptation takes a millennium or more to evolve."

Michel Garibaldi continued, "Then comes Danni, she is related to humans, but not completely human. Like you, but different. Lexa's DNA is similar to yours, but more human, except she has a version of the PSI-DNA in her, a new previously unrecorded version." He did not like telepaths.

Xander nodded. "Riley, Dawn, Lexa, Rona, Chloe, Willow and Buffy are more human than the rest of us, even if Rona, Chloe and Buffy have strange variations in their DNA."

Stephen nodded from where he sat. "Correct and Michael, they are human. All of them could have children with normal Earth humans. It's just a strange variation, but still adaptable to Earth human DNA."

Xander watched the others. "It's simple, but unbelievable. We are walkers between dimensions."

Seeing the disbelieving look, he ignored it. "Both me and some of the others have managed to learn the use of dimensional traveling. Not master it, so we are lost right now and have only a roundabout knowledge of where our home dimension is. Now we just have to get there."

Jaina nodded. "I know you don't believe it, but Lexa over there is not a telepath, she is a telekinetic. That's why it's a variation of the PSI-DNA string." She smiled, giving the younger girls hand a hug.

Garibaldi snorted. "That's the craziest story I have ever heard," he said.

Xander shrugged. "What if I told you a story of how the old races of the galaxy roamed around playing Shadows and Vorlons or should I say Gods? Is that any crazier?"

Elisabeth said, "I still find your story hard to believe."

Xander answered. "Lucky for us we actually don't need to prove ourselves. We have done nothing incriminating. So once Buffy is healed, we leave and you may believe whatever you want about us."

Garibaldi interrupted. "Nothing illegal? The guard at the entry post showed signs of mind manipulation on the camera," he growled out.

Xander flinched. "Not manipulation, suggestions and illusions which made him ignore how fake our ID was," he sighed. "So, you got us on one criminal act." Looking down he continued: "We have told you the truth and that's it. I have no wish to fight. We needed time off. Being cramped down in a small ship on a long journey is awful and most planets are more difficult to access due to ID check points."

Elisabeth nodded. "Can you prove that you're from an alternative dimension?" she asked.

Xander answered her. "Prove? That's actually a hard thing to do." He nodded. "I'll try." He closed his eyes, focusing his power. As he opened them again, he looked around himself and saw the team of telepaths Elizabeth Lochley had standing by as security guards.

He nodded to himself. That might do. "One, the weapon of our choice and symbol of our knighthood." His lightsabers flew into his hands. "The lightsabers." Snap-hiss, Snap-hiss. Both the sword and the shorter Shota blade was glowing green and yellow in the room.

He lifted up the broken table with his mind and one short cut later it was cut in half. Then he disconnected his lightsaber. "Even that is not evidence. A civilized enough group could have faked it," he said, looking amused. Garibaldi looked irritated that he had pointed that out.

"What more could we show you?" He was silent, then smirked. Using the crystal on his wedding ring as a projector, he created an illusion over his head. "This is a picture of Coruscant, the capital planet, home of the Republic, our enemies." The picture switched to his home on Sherashiel 5. "And that's our home on Sherashiel 5."

The illusion vanished.

Xander held up his hand. "How am I doing it? As I said, we are like the so called Techno-mages, but with less techno, less mage and more mystic and knight. Years of practice, rituals, training and special physical conditioning give each knight a PSI like ability, even if we are not PSI." Yes, meditation could be considered to be ritual training, just as lightsaber training could be seen as physical conditioning.

That the others in the room were thinking of nano-bots, medical genetic engineering and other stuff to make them super humans wasn't his fault.

Garibaldi asked, "You said years. How long is years?"

Xander shrugged. "It is different for everyone. I did it in record speed, less than two years. Dawn and Willow started their training as a Jedi Knights just a month ago."

Jaina said, "I started the training when I was around 5 or 6 years old. Nothing serious, just to get us started, then the real training came later by the age of 14. Anakin, my baby brother, is the same."

Anakin smiled and beside him Willow's eyes were almost falling out of her head. Xander was telling lies. Then she started to think and giggle inside. He hadn't told any lies, just the truth from a certain point of view and they misunderstood.

Riley grinned. He loved it when the boss did that. Now they were worried about what kind of training Xander and his gang could have. They weren't willing to risk angering them anymore when they wanted just to be left alone.

Xander finished it. "Like I said, a Knight order like ours should not or could not go unnoticed unless it doesn't exist or our claim of being from an alternate reality has substance to it."

Once again Garibaldi looked at Stephen and Elisabeth and the others slowly nodded. Even he with his paranoia felt the kid was telling the truth.

Not the whole truth, but then no such animal as the whole truth existed.

The three officers in charge over Babylon prime (Commander, Security chief, Medical chief) walked outside to consider the truth of the statement.

Xander was mostly relaxed, as he had seen no evidence of the Star Wars movies here. On the other hand, he hadn't really investigated as that left tracks, but he hoped that they hadn't noticed it if the movies existed and even if it existed, it was hundreds of years old. Nobody should remember it nowadays.

-KNM-

Outside

"I believe that they are not enemies and it seems to be the truth that they belong to an order of some kind, but the dimensional crap? I'm not sure if I can believe that," Garibaldi said.

Elisabeth smiled. "My telepaths said they weren't lying." She ignored Garibaldi's comment that telepaths could be tricked and be part of a conspiracy. "I felt they were giving us a shipload of half truths, but I agree on that they believe that such an order exists. A scary idea, indoctrination by the age of five."

Garibaldi interrupted her. "No, Xander said that Dawn and Willow started just recently. So, it's most likely not normal to start as young as Jaina did or Dawn and Willow are the exceptions." He shrugged. "Anyway, we agree that we believe what they said about the order, right? What about the rest?"

Elisabeth said to that, "A shipload of half truths. The dimensional thing I do believe. Stephen, what's your opinion?"

Stephan nodded. "Firstly, I believe the dimension story. I'd have more trouble with the Knight part, if it wasn't for the lightsabers. That made me a believer," he said with a smile.

The two looked at him.

Elisabeth asked, "What are you talking about?" The doctor was up to something.

Stephan smiled, "The name of the order is the Jedi Knights." He turned to the computer. "Computer, access private files, TV-Movie favorites and open Oldies Star Wars TV series. Open pilot episode Clone Wars."

On the screen they could see an old movie start to play.

Stephan said, "That the first in a LONG TV series during 1980-1990's. A story going generations from father to son and onwards, a mix of magic, science and love."

"I fail to see the similarity," Elisabeth said.

Garibaldi asked the doctor, "You like old movies too?"

The doctor looked at him, "I love old movies, but I hate Duffy Duck." He turned to the computer. "Flash forward 8 minutes."

Garibaldi snickered. "Hey. Do not insult the mighty Duffy." He was silent again. On the screen were two men dressed like monks, fighting robots. He could see the robots were nothing, but dummies manipulated by strings, but the monks had lightsabers. "What the?" he said.

Dr. Franklin grinned. "The first series, The Clone Wars, played for four seasons. Two episodes each week, no longer than an hour, it told the story of a young boy climbing from being a former slave to a Jedi Knight and the beginning of his fall. The second series, Revenge of the Sith, tells of how the boy, Anakin Skywalker, had to fight as a Jedi Knight against robot masters, with clone soldiers by his side and eventually joining the enemy, believing his wife and twin children are murdered by the Jedi Order and turning to evil and greed, as he and his master destroyed a galactic republic and created an empire. He renamed himself Lord Vader. That story I think was 3 seasons, 4 episodes per week, at the same length. The third series, A New Hope, was about a young boy named Luke Skywalker growing up on an ass end of the universe type of planet. The first half of the season is boring like hell, but it quickly takes up the action as he joins the Rebellion, fighting the evil Lord Vader, with lots of action and 5 seasons with 3 episodes per week. At the end of New Hope Luke finds out that Lord Vader, his arch enemy, who he as a Jedi Knight has been fighting and trying to kill, is in fact actually his father."

Garibaldi said to that, "Ouch, Sorry dad, didn't mean to kill you. You have to get me a copy of this TV series."

Stephen nodded, "The last series was Return of the Jedi. It was the shortest, only 2 seasons, but the episodes were almost an hour and half in length. It tells of how the rebellion managed to win the war. Luke fighting the Emperor, who has been mind controlling his father since the end of the second series. The dad dies and Luke takes up the mantle as a Jedi Knight and starts the rebuilding of the Jedi order."

Elisabeth smirked. "You sounded like a fan boy there," she said.

The doctor blushed. "I always loved the story. Dad got me hooked as a kid, a space adventure about noble knights. Dire fate faced with courage. What's there not to like?" He shrugged. "But as you see, they use lightsabers." He pointed at the screen. "Watch." They saw a robot, that could be R3 himself, come rolling by on screen. "R2D2, a garbage can, which became a hero for the American people."

Garibaldi smirked. "So we have nut cases who believe they are from a movie or beings from a movie reality?"

A deep sigh was heard from the corner of the room. They all turned and looked at Xander standing there, suddenly visible. "I had hoped I wouldn't have to use this," he said, holding up his hand. In it was a tiny computer crystal. "I've visited more than one dimension. Put this in the computer."

Carefully they did just that.

Suddenly on the computer a new TV series started.

Babylon 5 was playing.

-KNM-

45 minutes later

Garibaldi yelled, "I do not look that ugly. No way! That guy that played me is not only UGLY, he looks stupid," he protested. "It's a bad show."

Xander shrugged. "In that crystal is the whole show, all five seasons, but I want a copy of the Star Wars TV show. It sounded like fun." He grinned. "I visited a reality where Star Wars was a series of movies instead of a TV series. I could trade you," he told the doctor who nodded, still watching the next episode of Babylon 5.

Elisabeth sighed. It would be one of those days.

Xander seemed to read her mind. "Don't worry. Each time you try to make sense of reality, it suddenly becomes something more complex or strange." He smiled. "I wasn't even born in the Star Wars reality. In my home dimension beings you believe to be just fairy tales, myths and stories are real. Vampires hunted humans during the night, demons and a real honest to goodness gate to hell itself existed in the town I lived in. Then an accident happened and I switched realities and became a Jedi Knight with Luke Skywalker as my teacher and I married Jaina Organa Solo." He could see the doctor knew.

He nodded. "Yes, Jaina is the daughter of Princess Leia Organa, sister to Luke Skywalker, and Han Solo, the smuggler friend of theirs, if he exists in the TV series."

The doctor nodded. He did exist, but was killed as Lord Vader dumped him in a molted oven and the outcry was so terrible they had to make a quick switch and suddenly he was no longer dead, just frozen alive as the oven was a deep freeze and a bounty hunter had stolen him.

They had to rescue him from a crime lord. It was a stupid idiotic at the last minute re-write just to bring Han Solo back to the show and it made no sense. Stephen said, "Yeah, he existed in the story, but it was a stupid tale how he died and then was alive again."

He shrugged. "They should have gone with a clone swap, that would have been more believable and they changed the actor too. Harrison Ford had gotten a better role as an Indiana Jones character and was tired of playing the space cowboy."

Xander blinked. "Ok." Then he faded away, cloaking as he walked out of the room.

Garibaldi shivered. "That's not fair." The kid showed them that as a warning. He was telling them to watch it.

-KNM-

In the sick room

Jaina asked, "What was it?"

Xander answered his wife: "Apparently Star Wars is not a movie here, but a TV-Series, and the doctor is a fan." He looked at the pale Buffy. Even with the now fading fake red pigment, she looked so dead. He could feel her body and spirit inside, but not much of it. "Don't die Buffy. You know that you always will be my hero," he said, leaning against Jaina and Danni.

Willow nodded. "Mine too. She isn't the best person always, but she always tries to be the best person and help others to live and survive. She's my idol, my friend and hero."

Dawn shivered. "I was... I was made by monks. They used Buffy's blood to make me and created fake memories about me. We always claimed to be sisters, even after Buffy had her memory restored, but I know, I know she's more than that. She's my mother and she knows it too," she said, hugging Buffy's hand.

They were silent as they watched the computers, Buffy and each other.

Slowly Xander forced the others to go and rest and take turns watching and talking to Buffy. He, like the hypocrite he was in this case, remained with Dawn and Riley for some strange reason.

Chapter 22

Note: This chapter is a bit strange so be warned and I think after a lot of chapters it's time again to send a 'THANK YOU' to Inachis for her help in making this story more fun to read. I wish I would have someone like her for the other stories to -KNM-g-KNM- 

Deep inside Buffy's mind

"Where am I?" Buffy asked, standing in a library-labyrinth like building. Books were lying around everywhere, on the floor and on tables, piles of books stacked on top of each other.

"Why are you here?" a voice asked. "What are you doing?" the same voice asked again. "And what do you want to do?" it finished.

Buffy held her fist tighter. "Come out and say that to my face. Strange voicy."

A thin, starved looking Buffy walked out. "Alrighty, I will. Why are you here? That is easy, because your body has collapsed and you are in a coma. What are you doing? You are overworking your body and mind with lack of sleep and stress," the anorectic Buffy said, walking up to the real Buffy.

Buffy backed down. "Who are you?" she asked.

The anorectic Buffy grinned. "I am you and I am not you. I am a reflection in a mirror that could become real through lack of care. What do you want to do, live or die?"

"Live," Buffy answered.

The other Buffy nodded. "Good. Now, your body and your mind are fighting each other. Your stubbornness has made your body and mind so sick that they were on the verge of serious brain damage, perhaps even death. The healing ability responded by shutting you down before that could happen. Thanks to your stubbornness, it did too much. Now you're fighting yourself. Your healing ability against you spirit and if you want to die, then die you will. If you wish to live, then you have to find away to convince your body and your healing ability to let you awake. The longer you stay in this coma, the smaller a chance there is for you to survive."

Buffy sighed, looking at her anorectic version. "So what do I do?" she asked.

Anorectic looked around and answered, "Bring order to this library. The books piled on and beside the table is a symbol of how overworked you are. Put them away in the bookshelf."

"That's easy," Buffy said.

The look on the face of the other Buffy was not a good one. "Oh no, it isn't easy at all," she said before she vanished.

Buffy sighed as she lifted a book about repulsors. Suddenly she was drowning in screws, power couplings, oils and engine parts, all of them screaming at her and trying to force her to repair them. "Aaah, get away!" she screamed, struggling to carry the book back to the shelf.

It did not go as easy as she wanted it to. She could see bolts and screws constantly falling out. It felt more like wrestling her way forward than walking.

With a dunk the first book was there, under R in the engineering section. "One done, a million to go." she said, looking at piles of books twice her height.

Hours, days, months or was it even years later, Buffy was not sure, but now she could see the floor again.

Only one book was left.

It was a biography -Buffy the life of a Slayer and Guardian-

She looked at the book as the pages wrote themselves and looked around in the library, looking for a place where to put it. There was a perfect place in the bookshelf.

She took two steps forward and then she froze. She felt more tired, more lifeless, the closer to the shelf she got and who had ever heard of unwritten books, even unfinished books in a library? Shaking the cobwebs from her mind Buffy started to think. If this was a metaphor created by her own mind, what would happen if she put the biography of Buffy in the bookshelf? The answer was easy, the book was finished, no more Buffy to write about.

She returned the book to the table and left. Now what?

"Congratulations," anorectic Buffy said. Buffy looked at her twin she looked more thin boned now, rather than starved out.

"Yeah, no thanks to help from you," Buffy responded.

The other shrugged. "I'm just a metaphor of your body in need or something," she rolled her eyes. "It's your dream world, not Disneyland."

Buffy growled, "HEY, if it's my dream world, then make sense, you starving excuse of a bad dream."

The thin Buffy looked upset, "Yeah, well, see if I care," she said and vanished.

Buffy groaned. Even bad help is better than no help. "Sorry. Help. Help!" She had to find a way to curb her anger.

The library looked empty and abandon as she walked forward. It was obvious that she needed to do something, but what? That was the question.

She walked through room after room until she entered a catacomb built from the bones of dusted vampires. Shivering, Buffy could only say one thing. "If this is my fantasy land, I', SO in need of mental help."

She walked down corridor after corridor, finding rooms. Some were closed and others wide open, showing her memories she wished she'd forgotten. In one she found her room filled with bad memories. Angelus' note mocking her, her mom screaming from below, ordering her to stop being the Slayer, the terrible dead body of her mom's robot boyfriend lying on the floor, but in this dream he was a real person.

On the bed vampire Buffy was sleeping, waiting to rise again.

Buffy shivered as she left the room. Only a moment later she collapsed, crying. In the distance she could hear the voices of Xander, Dawn and Willow talking.

Hope once again rose in her, as she stumbled down the wrong way, further down and deeper into the realm of her private terrors and secrets.

Minutes, hour or days later she found something interesting.

A locked door and she could hear voices behind it. Willow and Xander, in her confusion she ignored the voices of Giles and Oz.

It had chains on it, stopping it from opening, and big iron bars holding it closed.

Buffy frowned. "Now, that could be a transmorph or whatever, for me being locked out from the real world," she mused. "I have a twisted imagination, so a solid steel door, with intimidating mouth less demon faces on it sounds about right. I so need mental help," she sighed.

In the library the anorectic Buffy returned. "So you need my help? You just have to say so. Buffy? Me, hello?" She looked around. Let me see, cave like catacombs of terror I do not wish to see or corridors of wishful dreams. Which way would she go? Anorectic Buffy thought, corridors of wishful dreams it is.

No way am I stupid enough to go inside the nightmares. "O sweet time for another hot loving," she said, rushing inside the dream corridor. Time to have some fun. After all, she wasn't that stupid, Anorectic Buffy thought as she walked the other way.

In the catacombs of terror Buffy opened chain after chain, lifted the big steel bars away, trying to force the door open. It was a slow process.

The voices were growing in strength as she pulled and pushed the door open. For a moment she frowned. The demon face on the door, the one without a mouth felt so familiar.

Then the door started to move by itself and she remembered the aspect of the demon. "NO way!" Buffy started to fight the door, forcing it to close again. No way, she would not be a telepath again, no way.

Slowly she closed the door; the steel bars returned, as did the chains. It was clumsy, but it held. The door was sealed again.

"I'm so going to kick Anorectic's ass the moment I get a chance." Buffy said, growling as she saw into a nearby room. She saw a drunken Buffy pending over a tied up Giles and trying to remove his pants. "Beer bad" she shivered. It had taken her and Giles months before she could face facts. The demon beer had made her rape Giles.

She looked away. "Beer bad"

There must be some clue in this labyrinth somewhere.

Buffy walked forward. "I'm so going to find a mind healer or telepath or whatever," she growled out, knocking out the Master who was growling at her. "Stupid dream terror." She was starting to get pissed.

-KNM-

In the corridor of wishful dreams

"Liam, give me another back rub. Xander, could you peal me another grape? While Jaina and Willow sing. Riley? Kiss me." Anorectic Buffy said in a happy lustful dream. What was she doing again? She almost frowned, but Angel or Liam as she called in his human version was a marvel at backrubs.

A strange ROAR, much like a lion or a pissed of Buffy filled the corridor.

Anorectic blinked, seeing a terrified Vampire-Willow and Angelus running in wild panic away from the labyrinth of terror with Buffy running after them, screaming death and destruction.

Not that Buffy needed, it but it seemed like she had concurred her nightmares.

Anorectic just hoped that Buffy wouldn't be stupid enough to have opened any of the locked doors inside the labyrinth.

Now she just had to talk to... "Oh no, neck massage." She shivered in pleasure as Xander and Riley joined Liam by massaging her feet. Buffy could wait.

Outside the library Buffy was on the war path. Two corridors left, one with strange sex like sounds and one with a strange sound, like an engine pumping and a splashing sound.

She walked into that room.

Inside she could see a big power generator pumping out power. Two dirty looking and arguing Buffy's were standing in front of the generator.

One Buffy was fixing it and the other seemed to be disconnecting the cables.

She marched up. "I'm sorry if I hurt myself by overworking. I promise I'm going to sleep and rest more, alright?" She grabbed the two twin versions of herself. "If one or both of you are my Guardian healing ability, it's time to go with the program now," she said, slamming the two together, making only one engineer Buffy hanging from her hand.

Buffy glared down at the engineer. "So, are we going to be fine?" she asked.

The engineer looked at her with no fear. "Yer pushing her captain, she can't take no more. I'm an engineer, not a miracle worker," she spoke with a fake Scottish dialect.

Buffy glared at the engineer Buffy. She was even dressed as a Trekkie. "Right, fix me up, you got 24 hours."

Engineer Buffy complained, "I can't repair her if you keep pushing her, cap'tn. She needs rest after you pushed her limits."

Buffy walked away, wondering just how crazy she was.

Then she saw another Buffy. This was dressed like a mix between a Dominatrix and a nerd with thick glasses and a red leather corset. Holding a book and a whip, the Dominatrix-nerd walked forward. "We have to work harder. More discipline. Nothing is going to stop us from learning what we wish to learn or doing what we wish to do."

Buffy sighed. If that was a picture of her force of will, she wasn't just crazy, she was a pervert. "Hey, you're killing us, we, me," she growled out. That never worked. "Hey Domy, look here," she said, giving the dom-nerd a jump kick in the face. "Take a rest, bitch."

Buffy sighed, she felt so tired. "I think I'm going to join you for a rest," she said before lying down beside the sleeping dominatrix-nerd.


	9. Chapter 23 to 29

Chapter 23 

Real world, Sickbay, 4 days later

Stephen looked up from his notes as he could hear R3 signaling wildly from the room Buffy was in. One of the nurses on monitor duty signaled him. Something had changed.

Stephen walked quickly into the room.

Dawn was standing near Buffy, looking worried. Doctor Stephen could almost swear that R3 looked relaxed for the first time in days. He shrugged as he studied the monitors. Slowly he started to smile. "Everything is going to be fine, Dawn." he said.

"Buffy is no longer in a life endangering coma, she's in a normal sleep now. Her body is still weak, but the stress levels are going down. She is most likely going to sleep twice as much as normal or even more the next week or so. If she refuses or has a hard time relaxing, give her some medication that will help her relax and sleep. She needs it." He looked at the girl. "And so do you Dawn," he finished.

He didn't even bother mentioning Xander the hypocrite, that guy sure would need lots of sleep. He had more or less ordered the others to relax and rest, not to drive themselves mad, and then had done the opposite to himself.

"I'm not that bad, Doctor," Xander said, stretching. "I might have been sitting in the room most of the time, but I have been meditating, using the Force in a dream state, half awake, half asleep."

"Did you read my mind?" Stephen asked, insulted. That was trespassing according to the law.

Xander only snorted. "No, I've just been around doctors enough. My dad is one and so are you. My mother is a mental healer. The facial expression said more than anything I could see in your mind," he smirked.

Sure, Tony and Jessica were Lexa's parents and they all came from another reality then Xander did, but he'd adopted Lexa as his sister and both Tony and Jessica had adopted him as part of the family. It felt good to have a caring father and mother. Even if they had the same faces and names that his real worthless examples of a mom and dad had.

Stephen snorted out a laugh. "I believe you. How long can you last without real sleep?" he asked.

Xander shrugged. "Don't know. The more skill you have, the longer you can do it. A week or two is what a normal Jedi knight can do and a Jedi Master like me, maybe a month or so." He smiled at the good doctor. "Besides, Jedi meditate regularly and the need for sleep is cut down to less than half the normal need that way."

Stephen nodded as he sat down. "Any differences from before you were trained?" he asked.

Xander nodded. "Dreams, most Jedi don't really dream. We see flashes of places far away in time or distance. Places we have been or will be or are needed at. Only rarely or when we're hurt does a Jedi dream normal dreams. So, dream deprivation doesn't work on us anymore."

He was silent for a moment. "The dreams, it's what I miss the most. I still dream, but it's so rare that it's a luxury," he said with a fond smile.

R3 beeped out a question.

Xander nodded to the droid. "I'll see to it." He turned to the doctor. "Sorry, but I have to tell the others." he said, walking away.

He stopped by Buffy, using the Force to sense her. She was in a deep sleep, not that far away from being in a coma at the moment, but she was getting better, he could feel it. With a smile he left the room.

Dawn and R3 were left behind alone. Her sister was going to be fine.

-KNM-

At the same time in the command center

There were the following people present:

John Sheridan, president of the Interstellar Alliance.

Delenn of Mir, Minbari turned part human and the wife of Sheridan.

Lyta Alexander, PSI and former servant of the Vorlons.

Commander Elizabeth Lochley, Commanding Officer off Babylon Prime

Michael Garibaldi, officially chief of security on Babylon Prime and unofficially the head of Interstellar Alliance intelligence.

Susan Ivanova, second in command on Babylon Prime. Those working for her also knew her for her more humble name, the God almighty, because of her habit of always being right and going Old Testament on beings that pissed her of.

-KNM-

Sheridan looked around the table. With all of them, it was quite full. "I'm sure all of you have had an interesting week." Sounds of amused snorts came from the others. It sounded like they had one hell of a week. "But what I'm going to tell you is going to top anything you've experienced."

Elizabeth smiled. "I don't think anything you could tell can top what we have experienced this week." She frowned. "Unless a Shadow and a Vorlon is getting married, that is."

Sheridan smiled at his ex-wife. The two had married while drunk out of a mistake and less than a week later divorced. It had taken that long to get it annulled. "Well, let's see. I have a secure report that the Psi Corps is keeping an old friend of ours hostage, trying to understand how she survived or rather restored her original personality. Talia Winters is alive, my friends. Her original personality restored itself and she tried to escape to safety."

Susan asked, "Are you sure? Bester said they dissected her after the fake personality had taken over." She spoke with hope in her voice.

Delenn nodded. "We are sure. The problem is finding a way to save her. Currently she's being held on Nethra 545, a Psi Corps base inside an EarthForce stronghold."

Garibaldi said, "We're sure Susan and we have Lyta, who'll be able to check up if it is real or not."

Lyta nodded. "During her scan I found some strange changes inside of her. After her personality died and the fake took over her body, we deported her. I asked around, but the Vorlons just told me to keep looking. I finally found the answer among the Minbari. Talia's real personality was safely locked away in her unconscious by a failsafe. The failsafe had a build in override that would restore her real personality the moment she was in a safe position. Like away from Bester, for instance."

Delenn said, "We believe that during the incident with Jason Ironheart, he changed her and gave her this as protection. The method is a difficult one. Only a team of four or five P-12s should be able to give her something like that or one telepath with more power than the team combined. She has an immunity to mind wipe. In rare cases some people are born with natural immunity to mind wipe." She leaned back. "What made this immunity so unique is that her real personality entered a sleeping mode, letting the fake take over until she was ready to restore her mind again. It's a protection only the most powerful of telepaths could create." she said, looking around before she continued.

"Often to protect infiltrators. I believe Jason had to do it that way as Talia's fake personality was already inside her, waiting for the command word so it could take her over," Delenn finished.

Susan swallowed. "Can we save her?"

Elisabeth opened the file on the security and they started to study it.

Garibaldi said, "It would take a strike force and those scanners in hyperspace would detect us if we did."

John nodded. "Yes. Any attack with less than four or five White Stars would fail." The EarthForce had quite a number of warships in orbit over the base and any attack using that many ships would be detected.

There was a reason why many of those working under her called her god behind her back. Susan Ivanova was a tricky, sneaky and quite good at what she did. "Not if we do something sneaky, like asking our guests for help,," she grinned.

Garibaldi nodded as he frowned. "Do you think they would help us?"

Sheridan asked, "What guest? Do you know?" He turned to his wife.

Delenn answered him, "I don't know, but the station has been filled with rumors and the medical lab has a fully functional medical AI that is helping a coma patient."

Sheridan swallowed, an AI, a real artificial intelligence. Those were rare.

Elisabeth's eye narrowed. "They just might. The question is, what can they do?"

Garibaldi snorted. "They sure can fight well in close combat situations. If a battle would come between our security and them, our victory would cost us everything we have and then some."

-KNM-

Later

Xander looked at Elisabeth as she asked the question. "Hmm, well Buffy is sleeping and Dawn and R3 can keep her safe with your help and if something happens to her, I am going to skin you alive just as a warning." he said in a friendly voice, letting a little mind affect slip out, ensuring him that all listening believed that he would do just that.

Zack, second in command over security at the station, nodded "Computer, improve security around Buffy and Dawn. Do not let anything happen to them. Add security around R3 as well, just to be safe." He did not want to see Elisabeth skinned alive.

She swallowed. "That was not a Jedi thing to do." She had studied the movie and TV series.

Xander shrugged. "I can sometimes be more brutal than a normal Jedi and I a firm believer of preemptive defense," he said, once again telling the truth.

Jaina rolled her eyes. "We'll do it. Prepare a small team, four or five fighters. We'll get the Enterprise ready for lift off. Lexa, do you have any of those PSI shield devices in the cargo?" she asked.

In Lexa's reality they had PSI-Shields, which improved a normal human's protection against telepaths. It improved the natural resistance to a point. Beyond that, if you had a natural shield stronger than the one the PSI-Shield could provide, they wouldn't help.

Xander, Jaina, Chloe, Anakin, Rona, Riley, Buffy, Dawn Willow and Lexa had all stronger mental shields from training, so they couldn't use them, and if Lexa's Earth with its low tech could build them, this high tech society sure could copy them.

-KNM-

Hours later

Jaina was correct. It had taken a mere 4 hours to replicate the simple Psi shields. They weren't all that good, but any improvement was worth it.

John Sheridan looked confusedly at the strange group entering the ship. "I really want to know why you believe they can help us."

Elisabeth answered, "No, you don't want to know. You'll sleep more easily, if you don't know."

Garibaldi agreed, "She's right, Sir. Let it go, it's less painful that way."

Stephan nodded. "As you doctor, I have to agree on this. Just ignore it."

Dawn waved farewell as they left Babylon Prime.

-KNM-

Jaina smiled as Xander sat down beside her. "On a mission of rescue once again boldly we go," she said.

Xander nodded. "I'm so longing for home. This mission is a nice distraction." He looked at the White Star that would escort them. "It reminds me of a Mon Calamari design," he said, looking at the ship's flowing white forms.

Danni in the back by the sensor nodded. "It does, doesn't it," she mused.

Hyperspace in Babylon Five was far different from their own reality. Sure their own hyperspace engine did work, but in the B5 reality they had an extra dimension they used as a hyperspace road. If that or a similar dimension existed in their reality, it could change hyperspace journeys. Not that it was better or faster, but it was cheaper. Why equip hundreds of cargo ships with hyperdrives when you could build ONE hypergate and just let the ship jump inside?

Without a hyperdrive the ship could carry more cargo. It wouldn't need as much fuel or a big power-generator as it could depend on normal drives and local jump gates for entry and exit.

For once Xander didn't even care about the tech, he ignored it. Too many new tactical nightmares could develop in their home dimension, if yet another front was created by a second form of hyperspace journey.

On the other hand he did consider that the startup cost for building the needed jump gates would be astronomical compared to the size of a real hyperdrive and the size of the B5 Jump-Engine was huge. His own Enterprise wouldn't be able to use a jump-engine. It was just too big for his ship, but the jump gates were an interesting idea. Talking it over with Anakin and Jaina, they could see ways of using them at home. The down side of the Jump engine was that it would create a technology that almost nobody cared for. It would just cost too much to start building the system of gates needed in order to make it effective.

Following the ship inside the red vortex that was hyperspace, Xander mused over the things he had seen. Different realities were strange, amusing and it just kept getting stranger and more amusing.

-KNM-

Hours later

It was Rona's and Riley's turn to pilot the ship as they kept following the other ship.

In the galley Zack and Lennier, a Minbari Ranger, were sitting, relaxing on the sofa.

Susan and Lyta had vanished into the guest room, most likely to sleep.

Xander sat down on his monster sofa with Danni by his side. Jaina walked into the kitchen, it was her turn to make the food and serve it.

Willow said, "Hi Xander." She smiled. This was amazing. She would be going on a real mission with danger and excitement. Like hunting vampires, she had missed it so much.

Xander nodded. "So Will, how does the training go?" he asked her. "Have you learned anything from Rona and Chloe?" he said looking at Willow. With both Willow and Dawn to train and also Danni, Anakin and himself and of course Jaina to improve, he had taken help using cross training methods. It worked like a charm.

Willow answered, "Good, Rona and Chloe are making me do gymnastic and athletic training to get my flexibility improved. They're also helping me learn some real kick ass moves." she said, her eyes lighting up in joy, then sadness "They're not that happy with me. I learn too slowly," she said, hanging her head.

Xander snorted laughter, "You have to remember Rona learns and masters a physical move the moment she sees it. Buffy is almost exactly that fast and Chloe is slower, but still so much faster than a normal human in learning physical skills that it's not even amusing," he said with a grin.

"Those two girls sometimes forget how hard we normal people have it to learn and master things. Chloe is better about it. She's slow for a guardian and actually needs time to train before she masters a move, but Rona has trouble understanding it completely."

Willow nodded. "I know. Rona and Chloe have been showing me some modified martial arts moves Rona has created."

"Um question, how good is that girl Rona?" Zack asked.

Xander answered, "In close combat she's better than anybody on this ship." he said, deadly serious. He needed to use the Force and trick Rona to win in combat or speed up himself until he was so fast, she wouldn't be able to keep up, and that wasn't so easy to do. "She's also faster and stronger than what a normal human girl her size should be. For short moments she can double her normal physical abilities. Combine that with super level of skill and, well, let's just say her kung-fu is strong."

Chloe interrupted as she walked in, followed by a Narn Ranger. "She's also an expert in long range weapons. At least most soldiers are impressed by her skill with guns. Until she shows them that her REAL skill is close combat, unarmed or armed, with any weapon she can get her hands on."

Xander snorted out a laugh. "That's correct." He remembered how impressed one of the SGC soldiers had been over Rona skills as an expert sniper, until he discovered that it was nothing compared to her close combat skills. Besides, as a sniper or just a shooter, Chloe was better, she was better at waiting for the right moment than Rona was.

Lennier was baffled. "A young girl like that, how could she be that good?"

Xander shrugged. "She is a guardian. They have special powers. Chloe's is prediction of others actions. She knows what they're going to do in combat before they do it." That was somewhat true.

Chloe could use the Force to sense the motions, just like a Jedi could. "Rona's special ability is learning. If she sees you doing a move, use a martial arts or a combat technique, she masters it directly." The rangers and Zack stared at him.

Xander ignored it as Jaina came back with food. "We on the other hand are Jedi. We have many abilities, like telekinesis, telepathy and precognition, just to mention a few." he said, looking at the now curious looking Narn. "And no, we are not PSI. It's not genetic. Our skills come from another source." He kissed Jaina, "Thanks honey." She just smiled as next time it would be his turn.

Danni nodded and kissed Jaina. "Thanks Honey," she said too as Jaina snuggled in between the two.

Zack blinked. "Um what?"

Lennier nodded. "What he said. Are the three of you married?" he asked.

Xander nodded. "In a way," he smiled. "I am married to Jaina and Jaina and I are married to Danni." In a Zeltron marriage that was even true. Danni was his and Jaina's COMBINED wife.

"That's the same thing, isn't it?" Zack said.

Danni answered, "No, that is not the same. I love both of them, so I married them both. Xander loved Jaina and she loved him, so they married each other. Then I found them and became wife to both of them, as we all love each other." It was quite different, to her mind.

Xander waved his hand to ignore it. Only a Zeltron would understand. He was just happy if the girls were happy and scared for his life if they were angry.

-KNM-

Later

Garibaldi joined them on the bridge as they activated a sensor mask. It was impressive. He knew that Xander was impressed by the Minbari sensor stealth as he had tried to buy it and failed. It made it impossible (Impossible = for Earth tech and even the Enterprise's sensors found it difficult to lock on.) to use sensors and computers to get a good target lock on the Minbari ships, but the mask was even more impressive in his opinion. The ship was almost invisible to sensors, just a big dark hole, easy to miss.

In the nearby White star they watched in awe as the ship just vanished, leaving, according to the sensors, only a big hole where it should be.

The Ranger in charge of the ship said, "Now that is something we should have."

Inside the Enterprise Xander took sensor readings of the nearby star and plotted a course, using his normal hyperdrive engine. He had to be careful and use only the Force to guide them. He plotted the course by meditating over it, trying to detect the perfect course.

20 minutes later they jumped.

-KNM-

The solar system Nethra and her planet 545

The planet was so undistinguished that it only had a number and no name. On it was a big building, a space station, where miners worked hard digging out valuable metals. In the last four years, a big outbuilding had given it a green house and food plants as the military used it as a repair and supply base. 5000 civilians lived inside the dome shaped buildings and over 25 000 military personnel lived or were staying inside the building at any given time. Lastly, there was the Psi Corps stronghold, where a mere 200 PSI lived and worked.

On the outside warships patrolled space, making entry difficult or even impossible, but they had not gone up against a sensor masked star ship before. Especially one improved with Xander and Jaina using the Force cloak to empower it.

Entering the planet's atmosphere was easy, the soup was thin as a photo model's lunch, leaving almost no traces as they flew closer to the planet and the city complex.

With the city visible they landed behind some rocks.

Anakin and Rona moved out to put up the camouflage netting.

"So, how are we going to enter that place?" Garibaldi asked.

"Now, don't get nervous. We're working on it." Xander smirked.

Putting on the maps they had over the civilian parts and the little information they had off the military areas and where the Psi Corps had their base, he let R3 project a map. "Right there, we have to use the sensors. Try to get an image," he said to Danni.

Only fifteen minutes later they had found whatever they were looking for.

Garibaldi was not amused. "So, how are we getting in?" he asked again.

"Assemble in the cargo hold." Xander smirked again.

T'kur, a Narn Ranger, was standing inside the cargo hold, watching.

Xander carried a strange looking, ball shaped droid with him. "Just wait." He put it on the floor inside a circle. "Anakin, activate." he said.

Suddenly from the roof four or five rings fell down on top of the circle and the ball shaped droid vanished. Then just as suddenly the rings moved again and vanished up into the roof.

"What the hell is that?" Garibaldi called out, shocked.

Xander answered, "That, my friend, is technology I traded for in another dimension I happened to visit. A so called ring transporter, it creates a wormhole that carries solid material safely inside of it, both alive and dead. The range isn't that great, but the city is within it range. It should be impossible to enter solid matter using this, but in theory we could enter a locked room or a flash freezing plant."

Anakin grinned. "We got a picture. It's an empty room. Looks like a gym," he said letting his sister take over the controls. She knew them almost as well as he did.

Xander said, "All right team, let's go. We move in two groups. See that your hands, feet and other body parts are inside the circle or they get left behind." He ordered.

Then whoosh, whoosh the rings fell down and the first group vanished.

Susan Ivanova smiled. "See, I was right as always." Beside her she could hear Garibaldi muttering about a know it all, female.

The first group moved quickly away from the landing zone. The droid had marked it with paint already, making a small circle on the floor.

Seconds later Whoosh, Whoosh and the second group stood there, looking a big shocked.

"Ugh. That was so wrong." Garibaldi said, shivering. It had felt like he was falling from a great height, yet he had stood perfectly still.

Beside him Anakin snorted as he put his helmet on.

Xander looked at them. His yellow green hard shell armor suddenly looked a lot less amusing.

Garibaldi knew that under those hard shells that looked a bit like storm trooper armor, but was green yellow in color, Xander was wearing a flexible armor that was just as powerful. The cloak hanging from the young Jedi master shoulders was made out of a fire protective and heat reflecting material.

That was something Garibaldi had memorized. Xander had gills and from eaves dropping he knew the kid was sensitive to heat and fire. Especially dry heat, it could harm his gills.

Lyta focused. "She's that way." She blinked. "I can't keep us all protected." She fell back as Xander and Anakin focused and a dome of invisibility fell on them all.

Xander said, "We are Force cloaked. As long as you stay near Anakin, you're protected from detection."

Lyta swallowed. She could feel the outside, but with her power as a P-13 telepath (Thanks to the Vorlon modification. She was a former P-10.), she could actually see the radius of the cloak. "That is powerful."

Xander nodded. "It is. It has its faults, such as that for some reason we're unable to attack anybody outside the cloak unless we leave the cloak, and yes Garibaldi, that goes for you too. Even if the person you hate the most is standing outside of our Force cloak, you will find it impossible to attack unless you are outside the circle and I know you cannot see where it ends. Just trust me, stay close to Anakin and me."

They walked with Lyta pointing in the right direction. The doors were forced open as they walked by Psi Corps members.

None of them noticed a thing.

Then as they passed the first PSI with a P-10 rating, they saw him flinch and look around, worried.

Xander standing nearby, just a foot away, looked impressed. "He can sense our presence, not where we are or who we are, but he knows something is off. Let's move faster." It could be possible that a strong enough a PSI could penetrate the Force cloak.

Garibaldi asked, "Why didn't he enter the cloak? He was standing closer than I was."

Xander answered, "Because I didn't want him to be part of the cloak. Distance is one thing, but to enter the cloak, you have to be a person I want to be cloaked. Even if he was inside the radius that I can cloak, he was still not cloaked by me."

The Radius had grown. He could cloak the Enterprise without a problem nowadays, at least for a short time.

Anakin looked tired. "Xander, I can't keep it up," he said.

Xander nodded. "Talia, how far away is she?" he asked.

Lyta answered him. "Behind that wall," she said.

Xander nodded. "Ready arms."

Rona, Chloe, Willow, Lexa and Riley lifted up their guns and the Rangers followed suit.

Xander pulled up his lightsaber. "This is a lightsaber, an ancient and sacred weapon. Honored by all who know about them and how dangerous their users are in combat. They also have a nickname which is ugly, but fitting. The Universal Cutting Tool or for short, the UCT. "

With that he dropped the cloak and the Psi Corps members in the corridors were surprised by their sudden appearance, but as Xander lighted up his twin light-blade, they started to wake up from the shock. Rona, Chloe and Riley moved faster than they and a rain of blaster fire drowned the corridors on both ends.

Garibaldi was accustomed to war and fighting, but the deadly quick efficiency they had used shocked him. Then he saw most of the Psi Corps members were alive, stunned, but alive.

Riley held up his big Thunderer, then put it back and took up his backup weapon, the smaller Compnor stun pistol. "Hey, stun guns worked, they have no armor at all."

The stun gun was a perfect backup weapon for Riley. A feeling he was not alone with as it was one of the best stun guns. Something the enemy crew had learned firsthand. Unhurt and unconscious, they fell down sleeping.

"The door is open," Xander's voice said. There was a perfect round hole in the wall. A still smoking edge was seen. "After you, my lady." he said politely.

"Thank you," Llyta answered as she entered the room.

Anakin was already inside, acting as a guard. The people inside looked at him with strange hollow eyes. Drugged, they were so drugged that they weren't even seeing him.

Riley swore as he walked by. "I should have used the Thunderer," he said. His main weapon, the Thunderer heavy Blaster pistol, was a big gun. It made more damage than a carbine or an automatic blaster rifle. Just calling the Thunderer a heavy blaster pistol was an amusing joke. The Thunderer was a tool of death and destruction in the size of a pistol.

They walked forward, looking at the drugged people sitting all around them.

In a maximum security cell they finally found their target, Talia.

"You're alive, is it you? Tell me." Susan asked her friend.

Lyta interrupted. "Wait." she said, entering the mind of Talia, seeking the fake personality. What she found was an abused and tortured mind. Her scan showed that Talia had suffered, but the fake was gone. This was the real Talia again. "It is Talia, incredible."

"You sound so happy that I am me. First you hurt me and then you save me." Talia said. The pain in her voice was easy to hear.

Lyta felt like she had been hit. She hadn't wanted to hurt Talia or anybody. All she did was act on the information that one of the crew on the B5 had a sleeper personality, a traitor who would betray them once given a specific mental command. The fake personality would kill the real personality and take over both body and memory.

There was only one way to find out who was to give the order, sacrifice the traitor and save the others.

Doing that had not been easy or something she enjoyed. After she found out that Talia's personality had survived, she had spent a lot of time trying to find and save her. "I... I am sorry. I just wanted to save our friends. It wasn't until after it had happened that I found out that you were alive. I searched after you, trying to help." she defended herself.

"Hush, quiet. Talia honey, come here." Susan said, helping her distracted friend down. "We're taking you out of here."

"Give her to me." Riley said, lifting her up as if she was as light as a feather.

The door opened and security rushed inside. P-4 or higher the lot of them, trained to use Psi powers and normal weapons.

Snap-Hiss, Snap-Hiss

"Drop you weapons now," Xander's voice echoed out.

They shook their heads, forcing themselves free of his mind manipulation.

Xander nodded, not weak minded, too bad for them. He lifted his hand. "I am sorry, but this is going to hurt." A shock wave moved forward as he sent a massive Force wave out towards them.

The security, all four of them, were send flying backwards, crashing down on the floor and into tables and chairs. As they crashed down, Xander and Anakin used the Force to remove their weapons.

The PPG guns went flying in the air and Chloe picked one up. The Phase Plasma Gun was quite different from their own Blasters. It was more like a Plasma acceleration gun.

The PPG had a high stopping power against organic targets and low stopping power against un-organic targets, especially metallic ones, making it perfect for use on a starship.

"Let's go," Xander said.

Rona nodded, holding her gun up and seeing a security guard reaching for his PPG, she opened fire. One single blast from her Penetrator and the security guy would have to buy a new hand.

Lyta looked around. "Sleep." she said, forcing the weaker telepaths to fall asleep. It looked like her Psi talent was more effective than the Force after all. She smirked and then looked on in awe as Xander and Anakin danced around in front of them. A pair of living shields, they were parrying blaster bolts back to the PPG's that fired them.

In seconds the second group of security was down or dead.

Lyta said, "High power telepath, Psi Corps Intelligence, P-8 or higher."

Xander nodded as the Narn sighed. He felt so useless right now.

Then the third wave of enemies entered the corridor.

Lots of soldier's, standard EarthForce troopers with Psi Corps mixed in.

"I feel pressure on my shields," Lennier said. The telepaths were trying to attack them.

Lyta raised her own telepathic shield to protect them against the telepaths.

Lexa switched her weapon to a concussion gun. "I am here to kick nuts and fry ass, so get in line boys!" she roared out as she opened fire. Each blast from the gun exploded like a grenade.

Xander screamed out: "That's my sister. Isn't she great?" The pride of being a big brother, not much could be better than that.

Anakin lifted up broken of parts of the wall and sent them flying into the soldiers.

Then Lexa suddenly screamed in pain and fell down. Her body was trembling and blood was coming from her nose.

Riley said, "Oh no."

Rona asked, "Who did that?"

"You're going to die," were Chloe's words.

Anakin said, "Die in pain."

Xander stepped forward. "Lyta, protect and save her. I'll take care of them. Sorry, we'll take care of them," he corrected himself.

Anakin nodded and followed Xander as a shadow, as the Jedi master danced into the troopers on the hunt for the Psi Corps soldiers.

Following them, equally as angry, were Rona and Chloe with the shield gauntlets active and holding a gun in one hand and a lightsaber in the other. Chloe looked like a nightmare to the EarthForce troopers facing her.

Rona was like a warrior queen, holding her gauntlet shield active in her left and her own lightsaber in the right hand. She followed Chloe closely, moving with even greater effectiveness and deadliness.

Around the two girls soldiers and security guards started to fall down, after losing body parts. Rona and Chloe were not cruel girls, they had learned that a lost body part was easily replaced by cybernetic or bio-implants. Sadly, in the B5 universe, cybernetic are still incredibly expensive and hard to get. Still, the true terror on the dance floor was Anakin and Xander as they moved in perfect symphony.

Body parts were flying as they dived in, heads, arms, legs and whole bodies were split in half.

Neither Xander nor Anakin spared time to give mercy as they hurried through the troopers. The faster they removed the main danger, the less chance there was that more friends and allies would be hurt or killed.

Finally they were in front of a P-11 telepath, who screamed out. "Stop, do not move," he yelled.

Xander flinched, the order was difficult to break, not impossible, but it took time.

Anakin seemed to have the same problem. Around them the Psi Corps and EarthForce members were gathering themselves to attack again.

Xander snorted out, "We are Jedi knights." Then he continued, "Moving is not needed to take care of you." White green lightning started to dance in his hand and then he stretched out his hand, sending a lance of green white fire out from his finger tips, the emerald lightning.

Garibaldi watched in awe as a spear of fire burst out from the Jedi's armored hands, cutting or burning a hole into the telepath.

Anakin smirked as the fire died out in Xander's hand. Where the Darkside had Force lightning, the Lightside had Emerald lightning. Emerald lightning did more direct damage, but normal body armor or an energy shield could protect you against some of it or even all, if the armor was strong enough.

Force lightning did about half as much damage, but no normal body armor or even an energy shield could protect against it. The Force lightning crawled its way inside the body, human or robot, it didn't matter, and hurt it (Armor enchanted by the Force does protect against it.) and worse, Force lightning was poisonous. It broke down the bones and organs of the body even after the attack. The effect would continue killing the person unless he got medical attention or could use Force healing.

Both of the attacks, Force lightning and Emerald lightning were the signs of a master of the Force and they drained a lot of power. Even Jedi masters used them only rarely.

Around them the soldiers swallowed in fear as Xander's voice spoke up. "Run and live." he said and then attacked. He looked at Anakin and said, "Use Force healing on Lexa."

His blades formed a green and yellow circle of death as he slashed any PSI soldier he could find, followed closely by Rona and Chloe.

Anakin nodded as he rushed back to Lexa, using his skill to put her in a healing trance.

"What the hell is happening? He's going berserk." Garibaldi said, worried.

Riley said, "No, he's distracting them. Look, they're pulling back and asking for reinforcement. In a second or two, we have a free path for our exodus."

Lyta nodded. "Makes sense, they're going to get gas grenades and P-12 telepaths down here as fast as they can and while they're doing that, we have the chance to get out."

Garibaldi nodded as they walked forward on a floor filled with cut off body parts. The floor was lacking blood as the burn of the lightsaber fused the blood vessels in the stumps, but the stench of burned flesh made him sick. At the same time it also kind of reminded him of a barbeque, creating yet another sick twist.

Lexa groaned. "What happened? I feel bad," she said.

Lyta answered her, "A P-11 telepath tried to crush your brain. Your brother, Anakin, the rest and me objected, but I fear Anakin and Xander's objection will be remembered more than mine," she said, her voice more calm than she felt. The room was trembling in front of the young Jedi master as he just walked forward, creating death, destruction and mayhem in his wake.

Lexa nodded. "It usually is. Most Darksiders fear my brother. He put the fear of the Light in the heart of darkness," she said, remembering the rumors Han Solo had told them.

A lot of the Darkside Jedi at the Shadow academy feared Xander more than Luke. Sure Luke was more experienced, but Xander was ruthless and a Lightsider who believed in pre-emptive defense. (Pre-Emptive defense is a nice way of saying attack them first, before they attack us.)

He had put the fear of the Lightside in the heart of darkness or perhaps they were just afraid that Xander would become a Darksider and take over everything. Jaina knew that in all of Luke and Xander's training fights Luke always had been the winner, even if Xander had come closer and closer to winning as time went by. She firmly believed that the only thing keeping Uncle Luke from going down during a training mach was the awe and respect Xander held for him keeping him back.

The gang quickly moved inside the gym and back in the circle.

Anakin frowned. "Where's Xander?" He asked. Then he felt it. "Sith spit. Everybody get going, now," he ordered. They would have to trust in Xander's skill, because the darkness had arrived and Xander had ordered them to run.

**Chapter 24**

Outside the gym room

Xander froze as he watched the corridors. "Being invisible is something I can do myself. It's not something that impresses me. Now show yourself." He hoped Anakin wouldn't do anything stupid, like try to help him right now. They needed time to get away.

The air trembled as a tall, devastating creature showed itself, a Shadow.

It looked like a black spider, with eyes darker than a black hole, as it studied Xander.

Xander could feel no fear from this being. Nor could he feel mercy or compassion. It was power incarnated. Only his skill in the Force gave him the ability to detect that it was also more than just a life form. It was also a machine. "Interesting," he said as the two studied each other.

If that being decided that is wanted stop the Enterprise from starting Xander was sure it had a way.

The surviving guards stopped cold, seeing a being from the deepest nightmare born from humanity's racial memory and stories of demons, face to face with the one of the intruders, an intruder who would become the new nightmare for many of the survivors.

"Are you going to stop me?" Xander said. "I have no quarrel with your kind, old one, or with the Vorlons."

A surprisingly soft voice came from somewhere. "What do you want? Where are you from, mage? The fire of your kind has burned out long ago."

Xander felt like smirking. The Shadow had just revealed why the Techno-mages were called Techno-mages and not just mages. "What I wanted was to return home after doing a favor for my friends. Where I am from is far away from here and the fire of my kind is the fire of life itself. As long as life exists, we exist. We might forget our way, some of us might fall. But never will the mage of life die as long as life exists," he finished, watching the beast.

It seemed displeased with him.

His skill with the lightsaber saved his ass as a lightning made from white burning plasma suddenly burst out from the being, directed straight at him. Xander parried it with both his lightsaber and the Shota. The burst of plasma bounced of his defense and cut straight through four or five armored walls. "I see," he said, lifting his right hand and pointing the lightsaber at the being. The green blade started to crackle as emerald lightning danced on top of the lightsaber before bursting out like the fire from a blaster.

The Shadow raised its claw and the air crackled as his lightning crashed in to the Shadow's energy shield.

Both of them had survived first attack without flinching or feeling that their powers were tested. The Shadow was old and powerful, a millennium meant nothing to it. Xander was young, strong and full of will power. Having faced real evil, both divine and demonic, he was not afraid of this being, only of the power it had inside of it. But fear had never stopped him before.

Both watched each other. The corridor was silent and you could hear the beat of a heart as they waited for the other to attack, waiting to find a weakness.

Neither of them started the fight.

It was a dead man's radio that suddenly activated with a beeping sound that started the fight.

Like Lightning vs. Shadow, the two moved faster than the human eye could or should ever try to follow. Strange shadow like spears burst out from the Shadows claws. The dark-spears made a hissing sound, like water dripping on a hot stone, as they parried Xander's lightsaber and lightdagger.

Xander crashed back from the power of the Shadow's body. Aiming the dagger he drew on his anger, shocking the Shadow as he send Force-Lightning at the spider-like being.

It raised its shield once more, but the sinister nature of the Force-Lightning moved around its shield, burning its claws a second before its shield expended.

Xander shook his head free from the taint of the dark side. He could feel the Shadow was damaged, yet it was healing, even the cell damage made by Force-Lightning was being repaired. There was no time to wonder at that in awe. He pushed the attack, sparks of light and shadow flew though the room as the two dodged and slashed at each other. As the Shadow healed itself he could feel its emotions. It wanted to test his power and strength before it killed him.

Xander's hope was rising. If it wanted to test him to see his strength in mortal combat before it killed him, he had a chance that it would make a mistake.

Burning waves of plasma whipped the corridors as the beast tried to kill him. Xander dodged and parried as fast as he could. The corridor around them fell apart, the roof crashed down and a raging Force Wave send the debris raining down on the Shadow who just shrugged it off.

The city was burning as the two fought against each other with not a care about the missing atmosphere.

Xander's armor had life support. The Shadow's body had built in life support or it just doesn't care about such petty things as a missing atmosphere.

Looking around he could see part of the city was burning from the destructive bolts of plasma the Shadow carelessly sent his way.

Two balls of darkness where fired from the Shadow. As Xander dodged one and parried the other, it collapsed around his lightsaber like a black hole, trying to suck it and him inside. Xander pushed the off button and Force jumped away from the sucking hole in space and time. It was at the last second, as an area of 9 meters just vanished, not even existing anymore. "Impressive," he said, seeing two absolutely round craters. The inside of the crater looked like it had been polished to a mirror-like perfection. That hole had been cut away at a molecular level.

As he was still flying in the air the Shadow launched four more balls at him. Xander almost snorted as he quickly made junk and stone fly into the balls, making them explode away from his body. He focused his will on the rocks lying behind the monster.

The Shadow watched, not saying anything, but it was impressed with the humans moves. Then from nowhere a rain of rocks came crashing down on it from behind. He would show this primitive human honor, as it would die in hand to claw combat against the Shadows.

It quickly jumped away from another rain of rocks the human send at it.

The two landed side by side, only four meters away from each other.

Of the two dark-spears one was aimed slightly up, pointed just above Xander's head. It was clearly a defense position and a lure, as it could also be used in a quick, although weak, piercing attack. The other dark-spear was pointed backwards, parallel with the Shadow-spiders body. A perfect position for long sweeping slashes, moving with a speed and power the human was too weak to parry.

Xander looked at the Shadow-spider. He held his lightsaber in Jar'Kai, the two bladed lightsaber combat. The Force was pushing itself up his arms and legs as he prepared himself to move faster than a human should or could move, also to jump higher and longer.

The Shadow watched him, focusing its own shield, strengthening it. Then the two moved.

From the distance it looked like strange sparks of darkness and of green and yellow light moving up and around each other, now and then creating burning sparks as they collided. Nothing solid could be seen from the two.

Xander bounced of a rock as he remembered the warning Yoda had once said. Using the Force this way too often would permanently hurt his legs and he would need a crutch to walk with, just as Yoda did. Turing around, he watched the Shadow send another rain of missiles towards him, a mix of burning plasma and those nifty black balls. (Xander's name, not the Shadows'.)

Bouncing between the balls and parrying the plasma burst he rushed closer. Dark, slimy blood was already dripping from the Shadow's body and Xander could feel an icy feeling on his back from a near hit from the dark-spear. His cloak was destroyed and his back armor was damaged, but not destroyed yet. Once again the two vanished from the sight of the humans watching.

Slash stab dodge cut explosions rain of burning plasma slash cut and stab.

Then suddenly, as he jumped away from the beast, Xander dropped his Shota and the lightsaber on the ground. The Shadow missed it in the heat of combat. The Shota started to spin at super speed, forming a yellowish disk that raced up at the Shadow, who was turning around, following Xander's movement.

Suddenly it screamed in pain as the dagger cut into its body. The yellow blade of the Shota was spinning so wildly in the air that it looked like a yellow razor disk and it was cutting the Shadow in half. Xander landed a bit farther away, his body was acing from the fight.

Just as an actor from a silly Blade movie Xander stood still, striking a pose, as his lightdagger came flying back into his hand. Behind him the Shadow trembled as its body fell apart in two separate halves.

It was dead, but the battle was not yet over.

Xander swallowed. "Jaina, get ready to run like the darkside itself was coming for you." He looked back. Around the dead Shadow were more Shadows, 9, 12, 16 more and more were decloaking every moment and they did not look happy.

Just as they screamed in anger and turned against him five rings suddenly jumped down around him and then they and he vanished into air.

Whoosh, whoosh the ring transport sounded as Xander looked up. He was inside the cargo room of the Enterprise. "Let's move it. NOW!" he screamed. Jaina jumped from the ring control station to hug him.

Riley nodded. "We are. Anakin is flying."

Xander nodded and hugged Jaina back. "We have to get out now," he said, running to the bridge, carrying Jaina in his arms.

Anakin jumped out of the captain's seat, using the Force to keep the ship steady just as Xander entered the bridge. Sliding in place he quickly turned to Danni. "Get me info. Cloaked Shadow ships somewhere close and plenty of them." He turned to Lyta. "Get your ass in that seat," he said, pointing next to Danni. "Use your telepathic skills. That's what you have them for," he ordered her. "Jaina, help her. Battle meditation. Anakin, use the auto blasters."

He didn't even look at the others. "Rona up, Chloe down, Riley missiles front and Lexa missiles back," he said, ordering Rona and Chloe to take the up and down quad laser cannons, Riley to take the big concussion missiles and Lexa to use the small energy torpedoes. Around them, the air and the space above the sky started to turn dark, as starships, the Shadows Battlecrabs, phased out of hyperspace ready to attack them.

"Willow, use the radio, we need the White Star now. Then use the sensor jammer on the Shadow ships," Xander said, hoping to create a more target rich environment for the Battlecrab and then slip away in the confusion. "Willow, focus the jammer on one target at a time with maximum power." That would be enough to half blind a Star Destroyer.

The Earthforce ships panicked, starting a free for all.

Xander raised an eyebrow. That was good. He aimed the ship, flying between the big Earthforce destroyers, followed tightly by a Shadow Battlecrab. The Earth ships ignored him, focusing on the terrifying sight of a Shadow vessel. The deeply imprinted genetic fear that the Vorlons had engineered inside most sentient beings made the human crew identify the Shadow ship as the enemy. The instinct was improved upon by Jaina's Battle Meditation and the fight or die reflex over took them as they fought for their lives.

Lyta's eyes turned black as she forced two Shadow ships in front of them to crash into each other.

Jaina helped with her Battle Meditation. It helped to confuse the Shadow ships and painted them as targets for all the other ships. The sensor jammers were like a knife inside the Shadow ships sensors, making it impossible for it to see until suddenly the Enterprise had flown past.

It was like a school of piranha attacking. Too bad the Shadow ships were like a pack of great white sharks that mostly ignored the puny human ships. Only the biggest lasers or missiles could even hurt them and any ship that hurt a Shadow Battlecrab got its full attention and was destroyed on the spot.

"Holly mother fuckers," Riley said in a less than polite voice. The concussion missiles worked, making a big hole into the hull of a Battlecrab as they were between 1000 or 2000 meters long, depending on age. (Yes, it is a living ship.)

The big hole looked more like a bug bite on the big ship, but they hurt the bastard and that was important.

In the top gunnery Rona fired as fast as she could. The powerful heavy laser cannons were less powerful than the concussion missiles, but set into combined fire mode all four of the quad laser cannons fired at the same time at the same target, making it only slightly less powerful. And it fired faster than the dual concussion missile launcher could. Her cannons created craters in the closest Battlecrab, making the ship spin around in pain.

Chloe put hers in 2x2 mode of fire, creating a deep ditch of fire in her target. It twitched in pain and sent a burning death beam back.

The Enterprise twitched as it dodged the beam repeatedly, the beam following their movements. As the rain of beams came closer Willow aimed the jammers at the closest ship, making it buckle in pain as it was suddenly blinded. Just like Gollum, screaming bright light, bright light.

Then a quick rain of small torpedoes started to fire out from the Enterprise. The energy torpedoes being launched were as powerful as a proton torpedo, but much smaller and could be fired almost at the speed off a laser cannon. The two launchers were the perfect weapon.

The first Battlecrab twisted as it fell apart. Damaged by concussion missiles, energy torpedoes and laser cannons, it died screaming out its pain in space.

"Take that ugly!" Lexa screamed back, twisting around as she shifted her target.

In the front Riley followed more slowly.

Then from the deep of space the White Star charged in, shooting a spear like death beam at the Shadow ship hurting them as it flew by.

Xander yelled: "Yeehaa!" He twisted and rolled the Enterprise around, dodging bursts of death from the Shadow ship. "Lexa, save the ammo. Fire only when you have a target, not before," he screamed out. "Rona, Chloe, heavier fire please." He'd better ask Riley to teach Lexa about the nature of missiles.

Patience was a missile or torpedo gunner's best friend. A cannon gunner could afford to shoot more often, hoping to just hit the target by luck. A missile gunner didn't have that luxury, mostly because missiles and torpedoes were expensive and most ships could only carry a limited amount inside their cargo holds.

The two grinned as they flipped from linked fire to auto fire. Like a Gatling gun, the four cannons in each quad fired one bolt of laser after the other, creating a deadly rain of fire.

The shadow ship turned in panic to avoid being hit.

Riley took the shot, sending a pair of missiles straight into the nose of the beast. Its head was gone as the 1500 meter beast died. Riley grinned. "Found the soft point, sending target information." he called, sending the information over on every channel he could. Even ships outside the Enterprise listened in and guns were re aimed.

The down side with energy torpedoes was that they were like bullets, fire and forget. Slower than a laser cannon, faster than a normal torpedo or missile, it had the advantage and disadvantage of both energy weapons and missile weapons, but once they hit the target, they definitely had an effect.

Now as they raced away, her targeting computer claimed the enemy was outside the effective range of fire.

It would be too easy for the ship to just move out of the way.

She sighed and watched, seeking a target.

"White Star it opening a jump gate," Jaina said as they followed the ship inside hyperspace.

Danni smiled. "Thank the Force that no one is hurt."

Anakin, who had been using the Autoblaster cannon, nodded. "Yes, thank the Force." He wondered if he should ask Xander if he could use the energy torpedoes instead or demand that in the next fight, he'd be allowed to use his A-Wing. After all, he was a fighter pilot, not crew on a barge like the rest of them, even if being crew on the Enterprise was actually a lot of fun.

Most star fighter pilots considered anything bigger than a two man star fighter to be a cargo-barge.

-KNM-

Garibaldi stalked into the room. "YOU, you, did you. YOU killed it, a Shadow and you killed it!" he screamed, pointing his fingers at Xander.

Xander blinked. "Yes, but that was only self defense. It started the fight," he said, trying to look innocent.

Garibaldi was too shocked to notice that. "I. You killed it, in close combat." Honestly, he was too shocked for his brain to work.

Xander nodded. "It was unwilling to die of old age. I had to defend myself."

A weak giggling sound came from Garibaldi as he walked out, mumbling something about Alcoholics Anonymous screwing themselves, because he wanted to get drunk.

Susan Ivanova looked at Xander and nodded. "I knew you were Russian when I meet you. Only a Russian or an American would have the balls to fight the impossible and only a Russian would have the guts to win." She smirked and walked out.

Willow turned to Xander. "Um. You are American, right?" she asked.

Xander smiled. Should he lie or shouldn't he. "Yes I am, Willow, but my great grandfather apparently changed his name from Alexander Harovitch to Alexander Harris," he said with a grin. That was something both his own Tony and his new papa-Tony had told him. Lexa's version of Tony was superior in all forms and shapes to the Tony he had had to grow up with.

Willow blinked in confusion and then shrugged. "Cool." That was interesting.

In the galley Garibaldi was drinking tomato juice, trying to get drunk. If he pretended hard enough, perhaps his body would believe it was a Bloody Mary he was drinking. They beat a Shadow. Not ONE of them had fought and beaten a Shadow. The last time they had to fight a Shadow on Babylon it took out a squadron of Security and they had heavy weapons and bombs and the monster just kept coming. Only by blowing up a section of B5 could they kill it and that kid had taken it out by himself.

Could they stop Xander in a fight, if anybody hurt the two girls back at Babylon prime station?

Being paranoid was not nice a nice thing to be at this particular moment.

-KNM-

Later inside the cargohold

Anakin was trying his best, but the fact was he would need a real hydro-spanner. His pocket multi tool was just not strong enough to do the work. "Sith spit," he said as he leaned over the engine of his A-Wing.

"Need help?" Xander asked him. It had been a while since he had the time to play with a star ship engine, far too long in his personal opinion. Sure the Enterprise engine was one he always took his time playing with, but the Enterprise, like Jaina and Danni, was one of his special girls who he loved.

"Hydro-spanner, a no 6 or a 7 would work," Anakin said.

A short moment later the problem was fixed and the two relaxed.

"Miss flying your toy?" Xander asked. As a pilot of a REAL ship like the Enterprise, which could easily be compared to a heavy war shuttle or a heavy bomber in terms power, Xander had started to feel a bit amused by star fighters. They were too small, weak and didn't have enough weapons. Even if the weapons they did have were dangerous and they moved fast. Well, thanks to his update, the Enterprise moved faster than most star fighters and was almost as highly maneuverable.

"Hey, my A-Wing is not a toy. It can fly circles around your barge," Anakin said, insulted. "And what do you think Jaina would say if she heard you?" he continued with a smirk.

Xander paled. "Alright, I'll be good." Damn it, why did he had to have a wife who was a toy driver? No, a star fighter pilot, calling her a toy driver would make her angry.

Anakin smirked. "I long for home," he said, looking at the roof. "Not that it's not interesting, seeing new realities. I just wish we could hurry back."

Xander nodded, "You're not the only one. Sadly the way home is not a straight road, it's a slow circling path until we return." The teen beside him nodded. Xander decided to ask the question that had interested him for a while. "May I ask who it is you like, Dawn, Lexa or Chloe?"

Anakin groaned. "Not Chloe, she's like a sister now. First I liked her, but she feels more like a sister, not a love interest. Between the other two I have no idea. They drive me nuts and I love it," he said in a tired voice. "I get so confused," he added, still looking at the roof.

Xander sighed. "Just hang in there, as your Jedi master, brother in law, Dawn's Jedi master and older brother of Lexa, it is my duty and wish to help all of you and to hurt anybody that hurts one of you. So I feel frustrated too."

Anakin smiled. "Thanks bro." he said, sure Xander was not like Jacen, his real brother, in any way. He loved Jacen, he was a good brother, a big geeky goofy big brother considering his love for animals, but Xander? He was a legend in the making and having him as a brother was just so cool.

Xander understood technology like he and Jaina did. Jacen could understand how to use it with some luck, but that was it. Xander was like Luke in his combat skills, just incredible. Jacen was good for a Jedi knight, but both he and Jaina could, thanks to Xander, beat him in lightsaber combat.

Anakin was quite happy having Xander as his big brother by marriage. Not all big sisters had the brain to marry a real hero and he wasn't being a fan-boy at all, he just admired Xander.

Xander nodded. "No problem kid, that's what big brothers are there for," he said with a smile. "Now, be prepared," he warned him.

Anakin nodded the two Jedi counted down from five, four, three, two, one and the door opened.

Lexa walked in. "Hi Anakin, what're you doing? Um, hi Xander," she said, trying to find an honest reason why she was in the hangar and more importantly, a good reason to get her somewhat geeky big brother to move out from the hangar. "It's boring out there. Just talking about ships and stuff. You should keep an eye on them. I... I don't trust that Susan, she's up to something," she said to her big brother.

Sure she respected him, he was a real hero, but sometimes with his overprotective ways Xander was just such a geek. She was a PSI-Kinetic. She didn't need his constant protection.

Xander nodded to her. "I better go find out what kind of sinister plot she's up to," he said, walking out and leaving a nervous looking Anakin behind. Xander knew he couldn't trust his younger sister, she would do something foolish in a heartbeat, but at least Anakin was trustworthy.

-KNM-

About the same time on Babylon Prime

Hurrying through the crowds, the young girl didn't even care as she side stepped and danced around the humans and aliens that occupied the walk ways near the market, even jumping over a surprised Narn. She moved quite fast.

Dawn was on the hunt. Behind her Babylon security was running as fast as they could to keep up. In front of her, carrying R3, was a group of alien thieves, pale looking Yolu with hanging skin on their bodies. Compared to some of the alien like species Dawn had seen or some of the demons even, the Yolu didn't look that terrible. To most the Yolu were a intimidating species from a race that was rumored to be among the best in martial arts, so fascinated in them that they had created the Mutai, a free for all races and aliens unarmed martial art competition. Often a Yolu became the winner at the Mutai by pure skill.

While Dawn and the security had problems moving through the crowd, for the Yolu the path was cleared like magic as the crowed jumped away in fear of a fight.

Swearing about sith spawn and demon whoring mothers, Dawn hurried up.

Seeing the young girl, who they had seen near the medical center where they stole the fascinating droid from, coming far to close, one of the Yolu waved to the other.

"Hurry, I'll take care of her," he said, his gloves glittering from the electrical charge inside them. He activated his battle staff and stood ready, the staff held loosely in his right hand, the bottom of it resting on the floor as he raised his left hand, electricity glittering inside the pawn of his gloves like magic.

Dawn, seeing one of them standing in her path, sighed. This could take time and no way in hell would they steal R3.

Snap, Hiss her lightsaber activated. "Get out of my way," she said with more courage in her voice than in her heart.

The Yolu looked at her. Seeing her holding a strange weapon, he stalled for time. "You will not pass," he said, holding his left hand up. The powerful electric charge at the top and bottom of his staff made it glow.

Dawn blinked. "What are you, a Gandalf Fan boy?" she asked in surprise. "Personally, I so like Sam, he's like wow loyal and cute too, especially in the movie." She blinked. "Get out of the way. Talk books later."

The Yolu nodded, seeing that just saying "you will not pass" was very distracting. He had no idea what or who Dandalf or Gandalf was, but perhaps he could use that name to distract her. "Yes, I think Dandalf is sexier than Sam," he stated, knowing how upset human teens could get over sexuality.

Dawn paled. She looked with a sick face at the alien. "Uu. Oh god, you like OLD people." She tried not to puke, but now her traitorous mind was showing her picture of the old Ian McKellen and the ugly alien playing the two headed beast game.

The Yolu looked surprised that his distraction was more effective than he had imagined. The human was puking, looking at him as if he was a sick, sick alien. Apparently they no longer would need to worry about her, he thought as he turned to see how far his friend had come. If they reached the escape pod, they could get away.

His eyes widened in shock at what he saw. The droid, what was the droid doing?

R3 sighed inside of himself and beeped a bit disappointedly, but Dawn was still young and inexperienced. He had noticed that about Dawn, she behaved far younger than she physical was. Yet, she had the memory and body of a 15, almost 16 year old girl. Psychology showed that this was not unusual behavior for a human clone.

Dawn claimed she had been created, inserted in Buffy's life complete with fake memories. That made her a clone and far younger than her body or memory claimed she was. R3 understood that in a purely logical manner, Dawn was like a child in many ways.

It was time for him to take action.

R3 first activated the fire extinguisher he had built into him. It was not water. Instead it was a high effective mist that absorbed heat and cooled the area while also hindering vision. Human bodies inside the mist lost 10 % body heat directly from the shocking cold for every five second they were inside it. Blaster bolts or fire suffered a more sever drain of almost 40 % of energy each second as it was absorbed by the mist.

As the alien dropped the droid in pure painful shock, R3 landed with a clunk before correcting his own position. Standing on his two legs, the droid rolled away from the group of Yolu. As he exited the cloud he saw some of the Yolu running towards him. Had he been able, he would have smiled.

Another hatch opened on his body and his build in heavy stun blaster pistol opened fire. It was on the stun setting only, as he was not a murder droid, but it was a heavy stun weapon. The first Yolu dropped like a stone, followed by the second as the droid was shooting quite wildly into the group of thieves.

As the last one dropped down unconscious, R3 rolled away, shooting the Yolu that so shocked Dawn, then rolling up to Dawn, beeping worriedly. She still looked sick. He shot the Yolu again for shocking Dawn and again because he looked ugly. It was the logical thing to do R3 said as an excuse for shooting it an extra time or four.

The Yolu was quite lucky to survive even if it was just a stun blaster R3 had inside of him. Even so, being stunned five times was not good for his body or nerve system. It would take years before the doctors would find a good medication that would stop his arms and legs from twitching whenever he became emotional.

The security finally got there and watched in surprise as the stolen machine stood guard over the teenager and the criminals were down on the floor, unconscious. B'Thut a Narn, working security, poked the closest of the Yolu criminals. "He is alive, sir," he said, sounding a bit nervous.

Dawn finally got the picture of the Yolu and Gandalf out of her mind. "R3 is a mechanical and by upgrade, a medical droid. He wouldn't use deadly weapons, only stun. I think you'll find all of them alive," she said.

R3 beeped worriedly to Dawn.

Dawn replied, "Thanks, I'm fine." Her studies had made it possible for her to understand R3 if he spoke slowly. The small droid beeped another question, asking her the reason she got sick.

Dawn blushed. "Um, he used an effective verbal attack that activated a mental feeling of disgust, which incapacitated me," she said, using a Xander way of explaining things. Truthful, yet a slightly faulty explanation, it was good to be Jedi, um Jedi in training, she finished the thought.

The guards looked nervously at the Yolu who could send a person puking using only words. That guy would have to be kept under special guard.

Escorted by security Dawn and R3 returned to sickbay.

Inside Dr. Stephen was talking to a tired Buffy Summers. "Don't worry. I have breakfast ordered for you and your sister Dawn is coming back soon. She's out on a small mission," he lied.

Buffy nodded. She felt so tired. "Thanks," she started and then she was interrupted as a missile called Dawn gave her a hug of death while talking and crying in her ear. "Getting dark, life fading..." Buffy said as she started to see spots.

Dawn quickly stopped hugging her sister quite that hard. "Buffy, I was so worried," she said.

Buffy nodded. "Yeah, Anorectic and Stephen explained it all to me," she said, happy to be back again. It seemed her trick to improve her own ability to learn had drawbacks, if over used.

Stephen and Dawn shared a look. "Anorectic?" they asked in combined wonder.

Buffy answered: "Stupid dream vision. Ignore it. I do."

She looked at them, then back at the bed. "Wake me when the food arrives. Like, in four hours, the food will arrive no sooner," she said before going back to sleep just as the breakfast arrived.

Stephen looked at the monitor, which showed that Buffy was already in deep, but normal sleep. "I believe you and me, Dawn, will have to eat the food. Buffy's still too tired after what happened to her."

Dawn nodded. "But she's fine right?" she asked.

Stephen nodded. "She's perfectly fine," he said.

Dawn frowned a bit, looking at R3. "Buffy is fine, right?"

The droid beeped a confirming agreement.

Stephen felt insulted over how Dawn didn't trust him, but R3 was a skilled colleague and it was quite amusing talking to him and reading his responses. "So, what happened out there? All I know is that my nurse was drugged, that you rushed after some criminals and R3 was kidnapped," he asked.

The fact that the good doctor said kidnapped, not stolen, made the small droid like him quite a bit. Not many organics considered droids to be people. Xander, Jaina, Dawn and also Anakin did consider him a real being.

He beeped and peeped happily in rhythm as he rolled around near the computer consoles.

Doctor Stephen blinked. "What is he doing now?" he asked, surprised.

Dawn just giggled. "He's doing his happy dance," she said between giggles.

Stephen just watched the droid dance around. Was it doing a break dance?

-KNM-

Later

The Enterprise's return to Babylon Prime was hardly noticed by anybody except the command crew. The news the crew of the White Star, Garibaldi and Susan Ivanova came with were considered top secret in the highest order. Of course within five minute the whole station, including the crew cleaning the toilets in Brown seven, new about the fact that Xander had kicked a Shadow's butt.

Garibaldi fumed angrily about the security leaks. Someone high up was leaking information.

Inside one of the luxury cabins Delen looked at her human husband. "John, was it wise to leak that information?"

John Sheridan nodded. "I think so. It brings hope, but also something was reported. Techno-mages are called techno-mages for a reason. If there are others like Xander who can use that power, I hope the information will leak back to us. Whatever a mage was or is, the Shadow seemed to know and fear it." he said, looking out the Holo window at the tree blowing in the wind in Kansas farm land.

"It looked like it would start to rain." he smirked. Of course it would start to rain. He always programmed the holo window to create the sound of rain after a stressful day. It relaxed him and put him to sleep like a child.

Delen was quite amused at her husband's action. He loved that window. It was really nothing, simple Earth tech, decades older than current standards, but it made a good sound effect. "So unless we do something, they're going to leave. Seeking a silent private place outside area filled with war to hide. This place is hardly safe after all."

He nodded. "Perhaps we could ask them to join us on the Minbari home world. That's safe and tranquil enough," he said, knowing they would get a good chance of finding information that way.

She nodded.

-KNM-

A week later

The Minbari home world was just what the doctor had ordered, Xander thought as he rested on the balcony watching the sun set. Training in staff fighting with the rangers had been fun. Showing them lightsaber combat, even double bladed light-saber combat and two handed lightsaber combat, had also been fun. He and Jaina had had a chance to go against each other at full power, testing each other's strength. He knew that most of his crew, including Jaina, considered him to be more skilled in lightsaber combat then Jaina was, but he knew that was wrong. They were scary equal in skill and power. His advantage was the fact that he was sneakier than she was.

Jaina's greatest skill was in defensive combat and his was in offensive. She was, in his opinion, a bit stronger in the Force. She said he was the strongest, but it was difficult to truly know. Most Jedi considered the Force to be split up into three powers.

Control, sense and alter. Control was mostly to focus the power inside of you. Sense gave you the ability to sense and detects the universe in different ways. Alter let you affect the world around you, like moving things with telekinesis.

Combine the three powers and other, new, abilities were created. Control and Sense and you could change how you see the world. Temporary gain IR vision or see in other frequencies. Alter and Control and you had your lovely Force push. Force lightning or lightsaber combat demanded all 3 powers working together in unity. You were only as strong as your weakest power.

Jaina was more powerful than he was in control and his equal in Alter.

He was far more powerful in Sense and her equal in Alter.

The battle between them had impressed all who watched them. He knew that both of them had taken great joy in having a chance of testing each other's abilities and they might have gone above normal sparring. The Minbari were looking at them in awe and some with fear. He himself was surprised that most of his friends had no idea just how powerful Jaina really was.

It should have been no surprise she send Lumiya packing, but mostly he was thinking of his main problem, Dawn and Willow.

Willow was working fine, she was overcoming her problems faster than he had expected and was growing in skills. Telekinetic was a natural skill for her and she was quite powerful in it. Yet Xander could see there were areas that Willow was amazingly weak in. Areas like telepathy. She could do it but she was weak.

The main problem was that Willow needed to be the best and deep inside of her was a fountain, a real volcano of fear waiting to erupt, all based on her uncertainties. Fear leads to anger and anger leads to the Dark side. Willow was doing fine so far, with the help of Jaina, and they held a close eye on her, as did Danni. The red skinned Zeltron was surprisingly good at helping people with their fears and emotions.

Then there was Dawn and he was worried about her. She was to careless, curious and brave for her own, his and her sister's good. Yet he had never seen anybody as pure and free from the Dark side as Dawn was. She was a natural happy person and an optimist by birth. Sadness, grief, even depression seemed to be unnatural for Dawn.

That worried him and only Jaina knew how much.

Danni, R3, even the healer droid at home had confirmed it. Dawn was medically a natural born optimist, just like some people were born with a depressive disorder. Some depressive disorders are so serious, that the one sick from them could end up taking their own life.

Dawn was the other way around. She was a naturally born happy person. She suffered from having a happiness disorder, if you could suffer from that. Dawn's version was a mild one. She could be sad and angry, even depressed at times, but only for a short while. Then her happiness would take over again.

With the disorder came optimism. Dawn always believed things would work out well in the end. The good would win, her friends would live and they would all be happy. Joy, Joy.

And like all who had that particular disorder, Dawn was careless and too brave for her own good. Of course he had talked to Luke and to others of the Jedi Masters about Dawn. They had said that he should worry about Dawn's life yes, but he would never have to worry about Dawn turning to the Dark side. She was, according to them, unable to even call on the Dark side. Xander agreed that it looked like that, but her careless nature and optimistic ways could get herself and people she loved killed.

People like Dawn often became dead Jedi and like all people suffering from that disorder, Dawn had trouble remembering bad things and sad memories. Things that were depressing quickly became forgotten inside Dawn. Not a good thing as it made Dawn naive. Combined with her optimistic and carelessly happy nature, it was a bad thing to be naive.

It was the reason why people like Dawn, if trained as a Jedi, often ended up dead. They trusted the wrong person or made a foolish mistake.

Dawn also had the clone child syndrome.

Discovered during the Clone Wars, 1 % of the clones suffered from it. Forced to grow up too fast, matured mentally and physically, the clone with the CC-Syndrome acted more childish than the other clones, even if they were physically adults and mentally programmed to be as mature as adults.

Dawn sometimes acted not like the teenager she was supposed to be, but like a girl much younger, considering that Dawn was created by magic as a 14 year old.

They knew why that happened in the clone army. It was a combination of computer mistakes and a slight mutation from the normal clone soldiers, which caused the clone to feel the mental need for a childhood. Xander just knew that the guys creating the clone army knew what they were doing. The guys creating Dawn had had no idea.

Clone child syndrome was a mental problem that cured itself with time. She just needed time to grow up.

All that combined made him very worried. Dawn was way too irresponsible, too curious and too brave to be trained as a Jedi and far too powerful to be left alone without training. The wrong person might get their hands on her and use her powers. Of course, there was one easy solution he knew about to see that no one could use her powers, ever, killing her.

He refused to accept the simple solution, of course. Dawn would live and he would make sure of that and he would train her so that she would not be used by anybody. Her naivety and curiosity on the other hand was troubling and so easy to manipulate.

He pondered all that as he looked at the distant star slowly setting behind the mighty mountains he could see in the distance.

A strange and powerful voice interrupted his musings.

"So, you are the mighty warrior. What is the weight on your heart, my young friend?" a tall Minbari asked.

Xander blinked and turned around. A tall Minbari with a beard was standing behind him. He knew from the Force he was not an enemy. "Nothing sir," he said politely.

The Minbari waved his hand. "No, I am no sir, just an Anla'Shok or ranger as you humans call us. My name is Ruell."

Xander said, "I have been meditating. I can feel the age of this city and it's overwhelming. It's quite beautiful. I have seen things that would shock you and cause your envy. This world seems so incredible, yet it is the people I'm most impressed with. Thousand years or more of peace, not many worlds could brag about that. The crystal towers and spires which rise over the roofs and create rainbows paint the city as the sun falls and the night arrives. It is nothing, but the people, now that's something."

Ruell nodded. "I am flattered and insulted that you call our proud city nothing," he said.

Xander snorted out a laugh. "Life creates an imprint, a memory of the beings that lived before our time and that memory can be felt. A thousand years of peace, trust and cooperation combined with mostly happy civilians. It's a wonderful feeling, far more than any architectural miracle. The people of this world are far more incredible than the city itself." He looked out. "And yet it is one of the most wonderful cities I have ever seen."

Ruell nodded. "Thank you sir, I envy you ability then," he said. The presence of the young man was strange. He felt powerful or better. No, not powerful, but more alive or everything around the young Jedi felt more alive than normal. Ruell himself was a PSI-telepath, at P3 a rather weak telepath, but he could feel the city. Each town or city had its own presence, a combined feeling created from each living being in the city. Military towns often had a feeling of pride or paranoia. Towns and cities that where center of art and entertainment had a different feeling, joy, creativity and despair mixed in them.

Behind the corner of the door was Buffy. She stopped as she watched Xander standing there with one of the bone heads. She smiled, Xander was looking so old, wise and brooding right now that he could out brood even Angel. He really was a master with both wisdom and power and so was his wife, both his wives. She pondered the idea of all three of them being happy and satisfied and the only ones really bossing them around were R3 and R6. Those two droids really had their organic masters whipped.

Ruell smiled. Around Xander he could feel the city more precisely. A strange echo of generations, dead generations filled the air.

"Could I ask you for advice?" Xander finally said. Ruell nodded. "Of course, Sir," he said, standing beside the young man.

Behind them Buffy was thinking of leaving, but then Xander said one name, Dawn, and she froze, trying to remain unseen and unnoticed.

Xander slowly started to describe his problem and worries about Dawn. "And the easy solution, her death, is one I refuse. Dawn will live, but how and what can I do to keep her alive, keep her safe?"

Ruell blinked. That was a problem.

Buffy nodded to herself. That was indeed the problem. She hoped Ruell had some idea how to help. She never knew it was that dangerous for Dawn and for others. Yet she felt envious as well. She too wanted to be happier.

Ruell said, "I think if you could get young Dawn to work together side by side with other people of her own age, they could keep her safe and she would keep them safe also." He smiled. "You did say that Dawn is good friends with both Anakin and you sister Lexa. Do they not keep Dawn safe and out of trouble?"

Xander nodded. "Most of the time they do," he said.

"Do they know about Dawn's problems? Perhaps you should tell them so they know. And does Dawn know about it?" Ruell asked.

Xander opened his mouth and then closed it again. "We did tell Dawn, but I believe she ignored it. It is in the nature of her problem to ignore things that are uncomfortable. Anakin and Lexa don't know about it. Chloe and Rona did find out," he said.

Ruell said to that, "My advice is to tell them before it is too late."

The two were silence.

Behind the corner Buffy sneaked away. It felt good Xander was trying to protect her sister and now she found out the reason why Dawn was always so frustratingly happy all the time, a design mistake, just like the first TIE-Fighter prototypes with the tendency to lose their wings in atmosphere. Buffy frowned. No, I must stop comparing everything with engineering problems. Stupid brain, I poke you with a stick.

-KNM-

Later

It was time to leave. They traded some technology and equipment, but mostly food and luxury goods. The hyperdrive tech and weapon tech was most appreciated by the Minbari.

The Enterprise lifted off and escorted by a few White Stars it left the planet, going for deep space. Soon they left the White Stars behind as they entered hyperspace and were gone.

Inside the ship Xander and Dawn focused as the void opened and the Enterprise vanished into the next universe, yet another step closer to home.

**Chapter 25**

Note: Thanks to Inachis and Hawklan for making this fic more readable. 

"Aaar haaa Aaar haa" the sandman screamed in joy, as he waved his club into the air over the fallen teen. Behind him the small droid R2D2 was hiding, almost shivering at seeing its owner and also his droid friend being knocked down like that, and there was nothing R2 could do. Even against one he was helpless and there were two sand people nearby. He was helpless and soon yet another Skywalker would fall.

Then a blood thirsty roar of a mighty monster filled the canyon, scaring away the sand people.

In seconds they rushed away, leaving the young Skywalker on the ground. R2 waited, hidden behind the rocks, as a tall being walked forward, his head and body hidden under a cloak.

It bent down and its hand gently touched R2's owner.

R2 felt himself relax as a human voice spoke in surprise: "Interesting." He turned around: "You better come out little guy. The sand people are easy to scare idiots, but they'll come back in larger numbers soon."

R2 looked at the face of the man and wondered who he was. It beeped a question.

The man looked down at young Leia Skywalker and smiled. "She'll be fine. But we have to go, follow me," he said, picking up both the girl and his friend C3P0.

R2 wondered again who the man was.

-KNM-

Flashback - two weeks before

With a weak near silent crunching sound from the ground under the landing pads the Enterprise landed, hidden by Jaina's and Xander's Force cloak, on the planet they had come to with nobody discovering them. They were almost home now, just a short distance from home. It was a good feeling, but they were not home yet and this reality was close to home. Really close to home.

Xander looked around, seeing the gas giant Yavin floating above them. In the distance he could see a fleet of X-wings returning from a scouting trip.

"It's so close to home." Jaina said.

Xander nodded. "If I'm correct, Luke and Leia turn 18 in a week. That's when it all begins!"

Anakin, sneaking beside them, looked at them. "So, should we ignore it or get involved?" he asked, feeling more adult now as he had passed his 16th birthday a few days ago.

Xander closed his eyes, sending out a question into the Force, seeing the path of the future.

"Involved," he said. This was bad. Unless they meddled, the whole future in this reality would go bad. "Full speed to Tatooine."

Jaina nodded, as she too felt the path of the future. "I think so too and I think we have to split up." This would be dangerous.

End flashback.

-KNM-

"Oow, my head" Leia said as she sat up from the bed she was resting in.

"Easy there," a voice said from the side. "You got a nasty bump on the head."

Leia nodded. "Yeah, I feel like I got run over by a Bantha." She looked up at the handsome man not that much older than she was herself. "Who are you?" she asked.

The man smiled, "I am Xander Kenobi." His eyes glittered in yellow and green.

"You are related to old Ben?" she asked in surprise.

Xander snorted. "Not related by blood. I'm one of his students," he said. It was true. The spirit of Obi-Wan Kenobi had been one of his teachers, in his reality and this one. "I needed a name and he gave me one before he died," he said.

R2 beeped a sorrowed filled sound.

Leia said, "O. O. I think this droid belonged to him or somebody called General Obi-Wan Kenobi."

"General Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ben would not have liked to hear that title," Xander said with a smirk.

"So, they're different persons then?" Leia asked.

Xander answered, "No, General Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ben Kenobi were the same person. Jedi Master, General. He never liked the fact that he was remembered better as a warrior than as a diplomat and peace maker." He leaned over and picked up a box. "Now, if you have anything you need to give to Ben, you can give it to me. I'm a Jedi Knight too, just like Old Ben."

A short hologram started playing.

A young man, Prince Luke Organa of Alderaan, was asking Kenobi for help.

"Hmm," Xander said, looking like he was thinking it over. In reality he was trying to make Leia jumpy and it was working.

"Are you going to help him?" Leia said. That prince was cute for sure.

Xander nodded as he gave her the box, "That was your fathers."

Seeing Leia picking up the lightsaber, he continued. "It's a lightsaber, a weapon of a more civilized age. You are going to need it if you are going to come with me to Alderaan" he said.

Leia blinked. "Me?" she asked. "But I can't, I have to help with the harvest, besides Dad was just a pilot on a spice ship," she said, repeating what her Uncle Owen had told her.

Xander snorted. "No, Anakin Skywalker was Kenobi's greatest student, a hero, until another young student of Kenobi's, Vader, betrayed and killed him," he said, musing as he put his own spin on the old tale. "Of course, Ben suspected that Vader might be a victim himself. Palpatine is a master in the Force of emotional control. If that's correct, Vader could be nothing, but a puppet."

Leia looked up in surprise. "Dad was a Jedi Knight?"

Xander nodded. "That he was. One of the greatest, the Force is strong in the Skywalker family. Leia, you have it to."

Leia blushed at the pure intensity of his eyes. Then blinked in surprise, he had a bandage around the neck. Was he hurt? "I can't. The harvest and Uncle Owen, I." she sighed. "Your bandage, are you hurt?" she asked, trying to change the subject.

Xander saw the girls eyes shift to the bandage he had around the neck long before she asked the question. It was irritating that she turned him down, but so far the events had followed what Luke had told them.

"No, I'm not hurt and no I'm not reading your mind. It's for protection. I'm a near human with gills. The Tatooine desert sand is painful for me."

-KNM-

Later

Leia nodded. "I can give you a ride to Mos Eisley, but you have to take it from there."

Xander sighed. He had not been able to convince the girl, but he was sure something would come up to take care of it and it did.

As they drove towards her home, they found the burned leftovers of a Jawa crawler. Panicking, Leia moved so fast that Xander was almost left behind. They were too late, her home was a burning wreck and her family was dead.

Xander waited and let her cry, before putting his hand on her shoulders to hug her.

-KNM-

Next day, outside of Mos Eisley

"It's the home for more scum, villains, smugglers and pirates than stars in the sky." Xander said. "And a great place to find a ship off planet." He grinned. "In fact, I have a friend who lives down there. I do believe she has the money we need to hire a pilot."

Leia nodded. "I'm not a bad pilot myself," she said with a cocky voice. A female friend, wonder who that was? Not that she was jealous or something like that. "My old boyfriend Biggs and me used to shoot vamp rats in Beggars' canyon," she lied.

Biggs had never been her boyfriend. The boy was 5 years older than her and had been flattered and amused when she tried to make him her boyfriend. He was kind enough to let her down gently. It still hurt, but he had always treated her nice, like a friend, or worse, like a little sister that he cared for. But a girl could dream right? What other boy her age was there out here?

Windy Starkiller was a follower and a fool, but a good friend or Deak, a guy, who followed the followers, also a good friend, if you liked a natural born slave.

No, Biggs was a dream for a girl like her, sadly he was dreaming of other girls and Xander made her so confused. He was just as dreamy as or even dreamier than Biggs was.

Xander nodded, hiding his smile. "We keep that in mind, but we still need a ship," he said, smiling. She so reminded him of Jaina right now.

The two entered the town side by side.

The stormtroopers standing guard did indeed have a weak mind. Using mind affect they forgot all about R2 and C3P0. Xander wished he could forget C3P0 in a junk pile somewhere. That droid was annoying.

"What did you do, how come they just let us go?" Leia asked in marvel.

Xander stopped trying to use the Force to forget all about C3P0 as he answers her question. "The Force can be used to affect the mind off weak minded people. It can also be used for other things," he said.

Soon they were parked inside a hired building belonging to his friend.

He was just about to knock on the door when it opened and a pair of red arms grabbed him and pulled him inside. Leia gasped in shock, first she believed Xander was under attack and then she saw that she was right. A red skinned female whore was trying to suck the life out of Xander, by kissing him to death, the stupid tramp.

As the two stopped kissing, Xander smiled. "I so missed you Danni." She smiled at him.

"Um, so that's your friend?" Leia said, feeling a bit left out.

Danni almost giggled. She so looked like Jaina, a bit younger and less skilled in hiding her emotions. "I'm Danni, one of Xander's wives," she said with a smile. Pointing behind her at a girl, a year or two younger than Leia, she continued. "And that's Chloe, she's our friend."

"Wives?" Leia asked.

"More like caretakers," Chloe said to herself, but her eyes turned to Leia as she studied the Jedi to be. She seemed to be far too innocent.

Xander nodded. "Long story, let's get inside. She knows what's going on."

Seeing Leia's confusion, he told her, "I told you the Force can be used for other things. It sure cuts down on the need for communication equipment," he finished with a grin.

-KNM-

At the same time light years away

The hut was tiny and cramped, but the owner was just as tiny and had no problems moving around.  
His guest, who was far bigger, did have trouble on the other hand.

Jaina sighed as she looked at the food Yoda gave them. It was surprisingly tasty, but it looked disgusting. "So Master Yoda?" she asked.

Yoda grumbled about the strangers. Sure, they had come with convincing evidence that they came from an alternate reality, one that was years more advanced that this one, and that they had visit other dimensions. In some this whole universe seemed to be nothing, but a 2D show. "Hmm, blue I am not. Yoda in movie I like better," he said, avoiding the real question Jaina had not yet asked him, but he knew was what she wanted to know.

Jaina rolled her eyes. He was still grumbling about the TV version of Star Wars which they gotten from Babylon 5 and in which they had a blue Yoda. The movie version, which they got from the SGC, actually looked just like the real Yoda. "I wanted your opinion on our plan. We cannot stay in this reality. We are needed at home and with Vader being a clone of Anakin Skywalker, the twins need more training than we can give them."

Yoda looked down. "Old they are, too old to train," he grumbled.

Jaina snorted. "Stupid excuse, the Jedi order existed for over 10.000 years. Only for the last 1.000 years has the training been for children only. For over 6.000 years Jedi Masters had whole academies where they trained more than one Jedi Knight at the same time. Then after a war with the Sith it was suddenly forbidden, only one student at a time."

Yoda looked annoyed. "Good reason it was. Fallen Jedi was too many. Soldiers train in group. Soldiers the Jedi are not," he said firmly.

Jaina said, "Life is evolution and change. The Force is created by life. It changes or it will be destroyed, old guy."

Yoda looked like he was about to crumble. "Anger I feel in you. Beware of anger, to the dark side it leads."

Jaina nodded. "You feel irritation, not anger Master Yoda, but an academy is the only way for the Jedi order to survive. In our time line Luke waited too long to rebuild the Jedi order. By the time he had started, the Republic fell once more. Our galaxy is split up in micro empires. You can stop that from happening here," she said.

Yoda looked at her. "Evolve the galaxy must. Life is politics also," he said with a smug voice. "Mistress Jaina, come with you I will. Like it I do not. Change the future have to the better not yet. But changing it does." He wondered what the sound from outside was.

Anakin yelled, "Jaina hurry. Dawn and Lexa managed to anger a tribe of giant spiders."

Jaina groaned.

Outside they could hear the struggle going on.

"This is all you fault Lexa," Dawn yelled as she struggled to escape the grip of the spider.

Lexa yelled back. "My fault, my fault?" she roared, hanging from the leg of the spider, trying to free Dawn. "It was you that said the cave looked interesting. You said it could have treasures."

-KNM-

Later, inside the cantina on Tatooine

Leia was surprised, two Jedi Knights and the girl was a Guardian. She really wanted to dislike that red skinned hussy, but it was hard to do. She was just too friendly and understanding and helpful. Her whole family was dead, Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru, and her whole life was turned upside down. Sure, she always wanted adventure, rescue a cute prince or two, but not like this and now they were inside a bar filled with aliens, criminals and other less than nice life forms.

Danni and Chloe were beside her, keeping her safe.

Xander looked around, finding Chewbacca wasn't hard and soon the two were talking. The big Wookiee was amused about discovering a human that could understand him and they needed to hire a ship. Han and he desperately needed the money.

They were interrupted by the sound of a fight as Danni cut off the arm of an alien.

Xander frowned, the last time Jaina and he were inside this cantina, another person lost a arm. What was it with this place and losing arms?

Seeing Leia on the floor, he walked over, helping the girl stand up. "As you see, my wife is quite good in the art of the fighting herself," he said.

Leia nodded, looking in awe at the red skinned Danni. She was SO cool.

The three walked over to a table where a handsome smuggler was sitting with a big furry alien Leia had never seen before, a Wookiee according to Xander. She was shocked over the price Xander was paying, 20.000 credits now and another 25.000 later.

The smuggler was sold. He desperately wanted the money and the brunette girl Leia sure was beautiful and sexy, in an innocent farm girl way. Han smiled at her, causing the girl to blush. Cute also, he grinned. Xander and Danni seemed amused. There was something strange about them. He just could not put his finger on what it was.

As they left, Han turned to Chewbacca: "This is our salvation, if we give the 20 grand and some extra money I have to Jabba, I'm sure he's going to forgive us."

The Wookiee grumbled, but nodded. It would pay most of what they owned the snail. Once they got the rest of the money, they could relax.

-KNM-

Later in the afternoon

Han felt nervous as he saw that both Xander and Danni had body armor on them. Leia walked between them. Behind them walked the girl they called Chloe, something was off about her. She was too well trained.

He could see the farm girl was awed by everything that was going on. She must have come directly from the farm, still wet behind the ears. Even Chloe, who clearly was younger, seemed more used to things like this.

He did not like body armor like the ones those two had on them. Bounty hunters or professional fighters used body armor like that. "So, ready to leave then?" he asked.

"What a piece of crap," Leia said, seeing the ship.

Han snorted. "She might not look like much, but she got it where it counts."

Xander nodded. "Let's hurry. I sense trouble on its way."

"Many smugglers use fake plates of rusty armor to hide illegal improvements they have made on the ship. Some even let the outer part of the hull become rusty to hide improved armor," Danni said to Leia, who listened in wide eyed surprise.

Han shrugged. "No worry, we have time," he said to Xander. Finding out that the Zeltron was well experienced in the art of smuggler ships improvements was interesting. After using the payment and his hidden treasure to pay off Jabba, he was free from the dept and completely broke, until they got the other half of the money of course.

Then the door broke down and stormtroopers stormed inside.

Han swore. "Get in the ship!" he yelled as bolts of plasma started to fly.

Danni almost lifted Leia inside as she rushed.

Xander stood by Han Solo. "Move," he said, his hand waved and the stormtroopers crashed around like domino bricks falling around.

A pair of light-sabers appeared in his hands, as he parried the shoots of stormtroopers.

Han Solo now understood what was strange about them and swore. No wonder they were willing to pay that much.

Then he saw it, Bib Fortuna, one of Jabba's men, was there. The snail had sold him out. Perhaps paying the snail and insulting him, while he was at it had been a stupid thing to do.

The smuggler rushed into the ship, followed by Xander who protected him from blaster bolts.

-KNM-

Later

It would take a day or two to reach Alderaan, as it was one of the core worlds and on the other side of the galaxy from Tatooine.

Perfect for them.

Danni sat beside the droids and Chewbacca as they were playing a holo-game.

On the floor Xander was teaching Leia the Force and she was soaking it up. Mental exercises first, the ability to use the Force to sense detection and control your own body, then small lessons in how to alter telekinesis and like a true Skywalker, she was improving faster than anybody they had ever encountered, unless you count Xander himself.

Han Solo snorted as he saw the girl playing with her light-sword against a remote and parrying some of the bolts while blinded.

Danni looked at him. "What, you don't think that's impressive?"

Han Solo shook his head. "Being good against a machine is one thing, but being good against the living, another. Sure, you got cute stuff over there, good against a remote. Real combat, it's different."

Xander sighed, Leia was listening a bit too much to the smuggler. "You're correct Han Solo, but also wrong. " They all looked at him. "This is just a training exercise, but once you master it, blaster weapons pose little danger. You saw it yourself, the ease I parried blaster bolts."

Han groaned. "Yeah you were good," he had to admit.

Danni said, "Leia has come far in a short time. A. Argh."

"Aargh!" Xander yelled as he felt the pain of billions and more beings screaming out in pain and then dying.

"Master, what happened?" Leia asked, helping him to stand up again.

Xander groaned out, "I'm not sure. It felt like a billion beings cried out in pain and then died."

Danni nodded. "Something terrible has happened," she said.

-KNM-

Later

Leia was meditating over the lessons. Basic lightsaber combat and how to use the Force to guide you in combat, how to heal or move faster, even how to sense things. So many things, yet not many of them had she mastered, yet. She'd just been showed how to do it.

As they meditated a strange glowing transparent image appeared, like a hologram, but Leia knew that was not a trick. It was a ghost. She swallowed.

Xander smiled. "Hi, Master Kenobi," he said to the ghost.

"Greetings, Jedi Master Xander Harris," he said to the young man who had come and helped them. He then turned to the young girl. "Leia, I am sorry I died before we had a chance to meet. I was looking forward to teaching you all that I knew."

Leia swallowed. "Um, not your fault, right?"

Xander smiled. "Master Kenobi, is our theory correct? Is Vader controlled, a simple puppet?"

Kenobi shook his head. "No my friend, it is worse. Vader is a clone, trained by Palpatine to take the place of the real Jedi and betray us."

Xander nodded. "I see. Then we have no chance to save the man behind the mask as he is dead." He then smiled. "But the good thing is that Vader did not betray us or try to kill the Skywalker family. Lord Vader did that."

"What does that mean?" Leia asked.

Xander answered: "For years the survivors believed that Vader was under mind control. There was no one who knew him who believed that he would betray them or even try to murder his own family. Now we know that they were correct. Palpatine made a clone from the blood of the young Jedi Master Anakin Skywalker and..."

Leia swallowed. "My dad? It's a clone of my dad? Are you sure?" she asked in shock.

The ghost of Kenobi nodded, but was interrupted. A second ghost faded in, a man in his twenties. He looked sad as he watched Leia. "We are sure. Palpatine surprised me during a meeting. My last memory was when they used memory copying before Palpatine killed me." He looked sadly at Leia. "I am sorry, my daughter. The clone has most, but not all of my memories, and he is programmed to be fanatically loyal to Palpatine. "

The ghost of Kenobi took over. "Yes, we are sorry that you have to find it out like this, but keeping it secret was necessary. The Emperor has agents with the ability to read minds. Only the lack of knowledge or a strong, trained mind can keep the secret away from them and the Skywalker family safe."

Leia nodded. "So Vader is a clone of you?" she said to the second ghost. "You are my dad. Is anyone else in my family alive?" she asked.

Xander swallowed. "Your mother died through the hands of Lord Vader. She believed it was Anakin she was arguing with at the time. Until you learn to protect your mind and memory, we have to keep silent about the rest."

Leia interrupted them. "You cannot tell me?" she asked.

Xander nodded. "No," he said.

A knock on the door interrupted them.

Han frowned as he peaked inside. Why were they sitting on the floor and what was that spooky hologram doing there? "Well, better get ready. We reach Alderaan in about two hours," he said to them.

-KNM-

Two hours later

The ship was rocked by asteroid collisions again and again. There was confusion and an argument between Leia and Han as they entered the bridge of the Falcon.

"I'm telling you, we're here, but the planet is missing," Han said.

"The Empire must have destroyed it," Xander said with a calm voice.

"No way, that would take too many ships and more fire power than..." Han said in shock.

They were interrupted as a pair of TIE fighters suddenly came flying in above them and the hunt was on, in spite of Xander's and Danni's advice. It felt like the Force itself was forcing them to follow.

"They're short range fighters and I'm jamming them," Han said. "Chewie, get the cannons ready. They're heading to that small moon."

Xander wanted to groan, but still said, "That's no moon, it's a space station." He'd seen that in the Star Wars movie one too many times.

"It is too big to be a space station," Han said.

Then they started to really see what it was.

"Look at the size of that thing," Leia said in awe.

"Reminds me of what I said the first time I saw you nude, Xander." Danni said, giggling.

Everybody was silent on the bridge and all of them, except Danni were looking at Xander. Leia was blushing like crazy and Han looked a bit intimidated.

Xander raised an eyebrow. "Should we not try to escape that space station?"

Danni was trying not to fall down laughing. It looked like Leia had just as dirty a mind as Jaina had, but then she was a younger version of Jaina's mother. Leia was beautiful as an adult and older woman and she was just as sexy and beautiful as an 18 year old girl and cute as a button.

The one and only taboo on Zeltron was Incest, it was forbidden, and that was the only reason Danni had not tried to get Leia in bed with them. They were married to Jaina after all, so it would be wrong, but still, deep inside her dirty mind, she was seeing pictures of Jaina and Leia in action.

It was time for a cold shower, Danni sighed, or more Xander action, a lot more.

Han growled like a wolf. "I can't get away. We're caught in a tractor beam." He turned to Chewbacca. "No way am I going down without a fight."

Xander sighed. "Wait, there are alternatives. This is a smuggler ship. If we get on board that ship, I can turn off or destroy the tractor beam generator. Then we can escape," he said.

Han Solo watched the Jedi and then blinked in surprise as the Jedi suddenly turned invisible and then visible again. He grinned. "Right, we have some hidden cargo compartments. Let's go and hide." Once again he turned to Chewbacca and even R2. "Let's get to work. Put it in the log book that we have abandoned ship in the escape pods after leaving Tatooine."

Hearing a questioning beep from R2, he explained. "I had to use four pods to get rid of some illegal cargo or get arrested two months ago. Jabba was not happy. Just change when I lost them in the ship's memory."

R2 nodded, seeing the fake information and changing it.

With Chewbacca's help it was done at racer speed, while Han Solo helped the others carry their personal cargo and hide it inside the hidden cargo compartments. Then in the nick of time they were ready and crawled down to hide themselves.

-KNM-

Later

It was dark.

It smelled funny, a mix of spice, dust, sweat and oil.

"I know we've landed," Solo said.

"Roar," Chewbacca said.

Han frowned in the dark. "How should I know if it is clear outside?"

Xander sighed. "I'll know when." He wished he had hidden together with the girls instead.

C3P0 whined, "We're doomed. Doomed, I say."

Xander sighed once again. He really wished he was with the girls right now.

In the hidden compartment where the girls are hiding:

"Hmm whoever it is who's touching my breast. Do it softer or not at all." Danni said in the darkness.

An "eep. Sorry" came from Chloe and the hand vanished.

Danni shrugged in the dark. "I don't mind. Xander might, but I don't. It was nice."

"Too much information," Chloe said.

Leia blushed.

R2 beeped, amused.

-KNM-

Later

The first floor hatch suddenly opened as Xander crawled out, followed by the second hatch that opened to show the red skinned face of Danni. The two smiled at each other before sharing a deep kiss.

Just for luck.

It was time to infiltrate the Death Star.

Inside the hangar control tower the two guards working there didn't have much to do. The ship was empty and they had six more hours of watching a stupid screen where nothing would happen. As they watched it, they missed seeing the four stormtrooper guards outside Falcon vanish and they also missed seeing four stormtroopers walk out from the ship again. Three of the stormtroopers seemed to be shorter than normal for troopers and one walked with a clearly female swing of the hips.

When they heard a knock on the door, they were completely surprised by the roaring of a Wookiee and the blaster shots.

Chloe snorted. "I'm surprised that the whole base doesn't know we're here between you shooting up the place and him screaming."

Leia blinked and then nodded to herself. What was wrong with her? Han was nothing, but a scoundrel and not a sexy knight like Xander or even a cute captured prince. Why was she thinking naughty thoughts about him?

Han rolled his eyes. "Sure, warrior queen. Unlike you, I know what I am doing," he said, while thinking like a brave idiot walking straight into a painful death, that it looked like farm girl liked him.

Xander said, "Aha. There it is. I need to go there. Danni, keep the others safe, I have to go alone."

She nodded and gave him a kiss before he vanished.

The others sighed.

"So now we wait," Han said.

R2 started to beep.

C3P0 asked, "What are you saying?"

Leia asked also, "What is he saying?"

C3P0 answered, "He just keeps saying. He's here. Frankly after all he has been though I... You say the prince is here?"

A picture of Luke was projected from R2.

"We have to rescue him," Leia said.

Han said, "I don't know, sounds needlessly dangerous."

Leia said slyly, "He's rich."

Han's back stiffened. "How rich?"

Leia answered, "More money than you could dream of."

In the end greed once again overwrote his brain. At least he tried to convince himself of that. No way was he some good doing fool charging to the rescue, because it was the right thing to do.

Danni smirked as they walked out.

"I keep walking into walls," Leia complained in her stormtrooper armor.

-KNM-

Later in an elevator

Han Solo growled, "This is a stupid plan."

"What? Why didn't you say anything before?" Leia said put off by his comment. It was her plan after all.

Han shrugged. "Hey, never said I had a better plan. It could work. I don't think it will, but..." He shrugged.

Leia was stunned by his admission.

A short journey later.

The prison crew watched in stunned surprise as a group of four stormtroopers marched out with a Wookiee held tightly under guard between them.

"Where are you taking that thing?" one officer asked.

They completely missed the fact that two of the stormtroopers were more than a head shorter than a normal stormtrooper and that one of the overly short troopers just walked head first into a wall.

"Ouch, I can't see anything." Leia just hoped nobody saw her hit the wall.

Chloe had her eyes closed, using her ears to listen and follow the sound of Chewbacca's feet.

Danni smirked inside her armor and gave the signal.

Chaos and carnage began and in seconds it was all over.

Leia yelled, "Hey, I can see a bit from my left eye." The helmet had glided sideways on her head and now she had partial vision. That was good.

"He's in cell 2187," Danni said.

Leia hurried away. She would save a prince. It was so like a saga. If they survived, that is.

-KNM-

A short moment later

Luke Organa, Prince of Alderaan, was brooding. His home world had been destroyed in front of his eyes and he would die soon. He had reasons to be brooding, good reasons. At the moment he was so shocked and stunned over the destruction of his home world that he felt empty inside. He couldn't even feel the sadness and pain of his world's destruction.

The fact that he was sentence to die did not matter anymore. He was brooding over the fact that it was boring. His emotions weren't even working correctly, even being tortured would make him feel something right now. Trained in many different subjects, Luke knew he was in shock and he knew that if he survived, he would soon crash down in anger and sadness, but right now he was emotionally stunned and it was boring.

Then the door opened and a stormtrooper entered.

They looked at each other.

"You are far too short to be a stormtrooper," Luke said to the strange stormtrooper.

Leia blinked and removed the helmet. "We're here to rescue you. I'm Leia Skywalker. I got your droid R2," she said.

"Kenobi, you're with General Kenobi?" Luke asked eagerly.

Leia froze. "Not exactly, but we have his students, even if they're a bit weird."

The captured and now being rescued Prince had nothing to say about that. Inside him his emotions were moving, a connection was felt, but not recognized for what it was, a connection only Force born twins had.

Leia also felt that feeling, but she too had suffered many different things lately. She was also far smarter than what Xander or Danni believed her to be. She knew that Vader was an evil clone of her own dad, a hero. She knew that she was hidden away from him. She knew that there were things about her family Xander refused to tell her for her own safety or for their safety.

Her mind did a strange 1+1=42 but this time 42 was the correct answer, she just knew it.

Family, plural, indicated that she was not the only surviving Skywalker. Her own weak skills in using the Force to sense life forms and to detect the emotions of others spiked as she felt the hidden pain of the young Prince and Leia just knew that the attractive, cute, sexy and absolutely dreamy young man was her twin brother. Perhaps he knew another prince she could save?

Luke was a bit spooked by the sudden silence of the girl. Her face suddenly moved as if she was facing many strange emotions in a short time. She was rather sexy though, he hoped she was single.

-KNM-

A short moment later

Danni looked at the two as they walked out of the jail cell. Leia seemed to have had a revelation about something. Luke on the other hand was suppressing his emotions. No, not suppressing consciously, he was in shock, his emotions suppressed by the overwhelming pain he felt.

She would have to help him.

Han Solo blasted the computer panel, seeing Chewbacca's accusing glance he defended himself. "It was a boring conversation anyway."

Chewbacca rushed in as he roared out a warning to Danni.

She turned to the others. "We're going to get company." She barely had a chance to say that before they could hear the sound of the elevator being forced open.

"And that's our only way out. What now, oh great leader?" Han said with sarcasm.

"I don't know. Why are you all looking at me?" Leia whined.

Han said, "Your plan honey." Seeing her fallen face he quickly added. "Hey kid, it wasn't a bad plan. It should have worked," he lied. "These things happen to everyone. Just remember that next time you're coming up with a plan for a jail break," he said with a grin. He on the other hand wouldn't be taken alive.

Danni rolled her eyes. She wondered if she should tell them about the garbage bin. No, she saw that Luke had discovered it and o Sith spit it stank inside. There was the enemy coming and she started to fire her gun.

Moments later

"I don't care what you smell, you get in there." Han said as he kicked Chewbacca inside.

Blub, blub. The stinking water was deep, but they could luckily stand on the floating garbage.

It was not long before Leia suddenly screamed, as a tentacle grabbed her violently and pulled her under the water. Danni was about to do something when Chloe jumped in. That was good Han Solo was about to shoot the wall and as it was magnetically sealed, that would be bad.

"No fucking tentacle demon is going to fuck with my Jedi," Chloe roared out and dived after Leia.

Danni nodded, now she knew why Chloe's mind was in turmoil. It looked like the young Force Guardian had chosen a Jedi to protect. The monster had no chance as the angry Force user pulled it apart. The water over the two girls bubbled and stormed as they fought deep under the garbage.

Chewbacca roared as he tried to open the door.

Han and Luke tried to find where the girls were.

Suddenly Leia and Chloe came up.

"It tried to run away," Chloe said with a smirk as she pulled up a big tentacle monster. "But I got it with my knife."

They all looked at her.

Danni said, "I'm happy that you managed to kill the beast, but what are you planning to do with it now?"

Chloe blinked as she lifted up the dead monster. "Um, I don't know. It just pissed me off," she said, dropping it while blushing. Luke was looking at her. The young prince seemed spellbound by her.

A big clicking sound came from the walls.

Han said, "I got a bad feeling about this."

"Me too," Leia said.

Danni said, "Oh don't worry, it's just the wall preparing to crush everything inside." She walked up to the wall, pushing Chewbacca out of the way. "It's lucky that this garbage bin has a secret security feature near the door," she said, putting her hands near the bottom of the door, opening a secret hatch and then turning a knob.

"This of course will not stop the walls from crushing everything." The door suddenly opened. "But we can walk out and let it crush everything inside except us." It was good that Xander had taken lessons from Jedi Master Kyle Katarn. He knew all about how to infiltrate Imperial bases.

Han looked in surprise. "Why the hell did they put it down there? Nobody would look down there."

Danni shrugged. "Bad design or just so that intruders accidentally crush themselves."

They all walked out.

Chloe looked at the monster. It was sad to just leave it there. It would look good hanging on a wall.

-KNM-

At the same time in a different part of the Death Star.

Xander walked inside the mechanism as he pulled switches to turn off on the tractor beam. He frowned. What if he... It would be a good safety measure, just in case. He walked deeper into the Death Star.

A short time later he walked out from a shuttle hangar. If things go south, he would have an escape.

As he left that room he could hear the alarms yell. It sounded like they had rescued a prince, he thought to himself as he walked back to guard the others against a Dark Lord attack.

It didn't take long before he was back.

He was interrupted by a small group of stormtroopers coming running, followed by a screaming Han Solo and Chewbacca. Xander blinked and looked out. Only seconds later Han Solo and Chewbacca were running for their life with what looked like a huge army of stormtroopers chasing and shooting at them.

Now that was just not fair.

He was just about to interrupt the stormtroopers when he frowned. They were shooting to miss Han and Chewbacca.

Interesting indeed, using his armors code breaker, he listened in on the stormtroopers built in radio. The Imperials were going to let them escape after a dangerous seeming chase. They had orders to wound, but not kill, and make it look like they were trying to kill them. Then let them escape.

As Xander contemplated that, he felt a dark presence enter the area.

A new order came through the radio. Lord Vader would personally kill one of the intruders and allow the others to escape. Xander groaned. Danni wasn't ready for this. The only one able to stand up to Darth Vader would be his Jedi Master, Luke Skywalker.

Xander's eye narrowed. He'd never let anybody hurt his girls before and he wasn't about to start now, time to see who the Master is.

Note: Thanks to Inachis and Hawklan for making this fic more readable.

Chapter 26

Later in the hangar

The gang, after a long wild chase, had come together outside the hangar and was about to sneak inside. One by one they sneaked from cargo box to cargo box. The Imperials had put more troopers outside the main door and they were guarding the Falcon.

"Let's go," Leia said eagerly.

"I can sense Xander," she said nervously. Then she felt him and another one that made her pale. "Lord Vader."

"Vader, where?" Luke asked his voice filled with hatred and fear.

Danni felt a heavy burden. She would have to help the young man get over that anger or he could become an evil worse than Vader.

Han checked that his gun was loaded as Chewbacca did the same.

Chloe grinned, padded her blaster and lightsaber. "Xander can take him," she said with absolute confidence.

It was then that all were surprised as a red light was seen, a hissing sound was heard and a dark foreboding voice sounding like a cross between a robot and James Earl Jones spoke up. "Come forward Jedi and meet your doom," Lord Vader said, looking directly at them.

Chewbacca growled. This was bad.

From his standing place behind the stormtroopers Xander walked out. Snap-hiss, Snap-hiss and a Force push sent the whole gang of stormtroopers to rain down on Vader.

The Dark lord deflected them and turned around in shock. The Jedi had confused his Force sense. No, there were two Force trained Jedi, a student and something new. He had never sensed a Force Guardian before.

"Actually, it's honorary Jensaarai and Jedi Master Xander Harris," Xander said, as he walked forward.

The two intimidating people stared at each other, green yellow armor VS black armor.

"My armor is less boring than yours," Xander said. The clone was incredibly strong. He could feel Vader probing his mental defenses.

Vader studied the so called Master. His words, were they said from fear and nervousness or a foolish attempt at gaining time? He could feel the Jedi probing his mental defenses, but who ever this person was, he was strong.

"Indeed. Perhaps our fight will prove whose armor is the strongest," he said, not finding a good response for such a childish comment. Boring armor indeed. "Do tell me. What are the Jensaarai?" he asked.

Xander shrugged. Jaina had visited their home world on her journey to the Yoda of this reality. Imperial Jedi Hunters had already destroyed them. The Base Delta Zero order had been given. The Base Delta meant destruction of all resources, natural or artificial, orbital bombardment with a rain of missiles, even dirty radioactive nukes to poison any survivors. Then a shadow cloak had been activated, separating the planet from the rays and heat of the sun, freezing it.

In the end it was a lifeless planetoid filled with craters.

Xander felt positive that the sneaky Jensaarai might have survived, but not in any great numbers. "They were an order that copied old Sith traditions. They removed all foolish things, like anger and hate, you know, the dark side, but kept other things."

The two walked around each other, both waiting for the next move.

Xander didn't want to do this, but: "Run fools. Run." He then stood himself between Vader and the Falcon. "You will not pass." Then he groaned to himself, why did he have to read Lord of the Rings last night?

Vader attacked.

Danni swallowed. She sensed that Xander had a plan and wanted them to fly away, without him. "Get going. Trust me, Xander will survive," she said.

The group hurried in to the ship. The last in was a fearfull looking Leia who wondered if she was going to lose her master also.

Chloe's hand grabbed her at the shoulder. "Come on. He'll be fine, somehow."

Beside them the lightsabers of the two Force users were locked in a battle of strength, one that neither of them was losing.

Vader was first to act as he pushed back with the Force. Xander parried the Force push and answered with a telekinetic attack and was surprised when it didn't work.

He tried again, this time with a Force push, and again it didn't work.

Inside his helmet Xander started to smile. This was an interesting new trick. Somehow Vader could disrupt his attack. He knew you could block them and shield a Force sensitive so that he or she would be unable to use the Force. Both methods, Xander knew, had their draw backs. Blocking the attack demanded you had a skill that could do that and shielding a Force sensitive demanded he was under control before you started to shield off his ability to use the Force, and even then it demanded an enormous level of power to shield someone.

"That was incredible Lord Vader," he said. "You truly are a Master. Tell me. How did you disrupt my attack?" he asked, using one type of attack Vader most likely never expected. After all, it was too weak to have a great effect on the strong mind, but sometimes it could be just enough.

Lord Vader armored head moved in a strange way. Was that guy asking a question in the middle of a fight? "If I can sense the attack you are making, it is simple enough to disrupt it. Your speed in the Force is too slow to defend yourself." He blinked. "You just used 'Affect Mind' , just to find out how I did it in a life and death battle?" he said, surprised.

"Hey, I'm curious. Besides," Xander said looking at the hangar where the Falcon had just lifted off. "Now that my friends are not trapped in the middle of things, we can rock this ball."

Xander's Shoto blade was lifted up. Its yellow blade was surrounded by a green emerald lightning that shot out from the blade just as a lance made of thunder echoed across the walls.

Vader parried the attack. That was Emerald Lightning. The lightsiders answer to Force lightning. Then he attacked.

The two met in the middle, both of them bouncing off walls, creating explosions as they ripped out armored doors to as weapons to launch at each other. Holding the lightdagger in a reverse grip, a Shien, good for long sweeping attacks and defense, Xander kept it close to himself in a parry position with the lightsaber pointing at the enemy. He whirled around like a mad twister, attacking the dark lord from as many directions as he could.

Vader was backing down from the fury of the attack. This was a true Master of lightsaber combat. Vader could see his armor had many burn marks from near hits. Truly a Master, but then so was he.

As Xander came in for another round, seeking a killing strike, Vader countered, using a shield built in his armored glove, made from a cortosis alloy. It could parry a lightsaber. He did recognize that part of his enemy's armor had spun Cortosis on it as well. That would short circuit his lightsaber if he hit it. Something must have burned it away.

Xander was mildly surprised as the Dark Lord parried with his armored glove. It meant that the guy used a lightsaber resistant substance or energy shield, big deal.

Then Vader took the offensive, letting his blade be held in the Shien reverse grip, the blade pointing downwards. Good for long power full strikes and defense, but it sacrificed precision.

Then he attacked using Form 4 Ataru, the aggression form.

Xander was hard pushed as Vader started to slash his blade around, constantly moving. He was forced to defend himself constantly and was not able to attack, only defend. He could see smoke rising from part of his armor where close hits had nicked it.

He just had to find a pattern in Vader's attack, then he would show the asshole.

Using a powerful Force push focused to the size of a fist, Xander struck out, trying to crush Vader's helmeted head. The Dark Lord blocked the attack with his own Force push just in time, but he was still thrown backwards and part of his helmet was bent and ripped open at the lower part.

Xander grinned. "With the face part looking like that, Dork Lord, you look like you're smiling," he said, trying to find a way to survive this battle.

Lord Vader growled as he ripped off his helmet. The Jedi was correct. His intimidating helmet had a big smile like wound in it. The face mask was crushed. Calling up on the darkside, Vader attacked.

It was time to show this newcomer who's the true Master.

-KNM-

At the same time in Grand Moff Tarkin's private office.

Tarkin smiled. "Would you like another cup of tea?" he said, ignoring that the paintings on the walls were shacking.

"Yes, our boys do seem to be having fun out there," Tarkin said. "Do not worry Admiral Motti. It's just. How did you say it? A hokey religion and sorcerer ways? It's just two of those who use their hokey traditions against each other," the Grand Moff said and relaxed as the chair shock.

Motti swallowed. "You're sure that they're not coming here?" he asked.

Tarkin nodded, "I'm quite sure. Now, I was going to talk to you about angering Lord Vader over his belief in the Force. It is a stupid thing to do. Surely by know you understand that the Emperor has similar powers also?" He could see that the admiral was afraid now. "I'm not going to lecture you about it. I'm sure by now you have seen the error of your past mistakes."

"I have sir," the admiral said.

Tarkin nodded. "Good, good. Now, you understand that our Death Star is an ultimate power, but it is not the only power out here. Giants still walk the skies and wizards and witches can still kill you with a single look. I need your service, you are a good man and you are loyal and one of the smartest I have had the chance to work with." He could see Motti swelling with pride.

Tarkin then leaned over. "You are also braver than you are smart. Do not let that end your bright future. I need you to reign in your courage. Strategy and tactics are your concern, not running around trying to be a soldier."

Motti said, "Sir, I was not going to capture them. I knew of you plan to follow them. I was planning to take full scans of the intruders from a distance, using sniper scoops. Of course I would have to be near the soldiers to make sure they wouldn't mess up." He swallowed as once again a wall shook.

Tarkin answered, "A most brilliant idea, but an Admiral stays OFF the field. He is too important and his life should not be risked like that. This is your only warning Motti."

The admiral nodded. He knew it was thanks to Tarkin that he had been jumped up to Admiral from a lowly captain. The Grand Moff recognized loyalty and ability.

Tarkin nodded. "Good, just imagine what Vader would or could have accidentally done to you if he found you near them during his combat right now?"

Motti swallowed.

-KNM-

Xander sweat inside his armor. This was bad. Vader was far stronger than he had guessed and the Force was not cooperating with him fully. Clone Vader was still needed to correct a mistake. With the real Anakin dead, the Force needed the clone's help to remove Palpatine.

It was time to vanish. A hand gas grenade lifted off his belt and dropped to the floor.

On the other side of the corridor Vader felt sweat drip down his neck inside his armor. That Jedi Master was far more ruthless than any he ever fought before, and strong.

As Vader was about to attack, the corridor filled with gas so thick not even IR or UV could penetrate it. The Force had no problem except his enemy was not in the corridor anymore. He was about to follow when the Jedi Master's presence in the Force vanished. No Jedi or Sith, as far as he knew, could do that.

Running for his life Xander finally managed to Force his Force cloak to activate. Now he was invisible to cameras and only if he was close by, Vader would be able to sense him. He had to get further away.

Hours later Xander stood outside a long range shuttle and punched in a special code in the wall computer before moving away.

He then dropped the Force cloak for a moment as the ship suddenly lifted on autopilot, then activated it again and snuck back onto the Death Star. Now the ship would fly away without a pilot. Vader would sense that he had been in this area. With luck, the Dark Lord would hunt after him.

It would not take long for the TIE fighters to destroy the ship. He made sure it would explode, making it difficult for them to know if he was on it or not.

He then sneaked deeper into the station, near the personal shuttles. A base the size of a moon constantly had troopers going out on errands or going on vacation.

Four shuttles were filling up with people.

It was difficult to sneak on board, but he did it. Seating himself in the cockpit, Xander waited.

As the ship had entered hyperspace, Xander decloaked and took care of the crew. These guys were lucky, as they where only unconscious. Most of the passengers would soon die. That was a shame, but they were the enemy.

Then it was time to go to Yavin. Behind him, he could feel the rage of the Dark Lord.

-KNM-

Later in the Falcon on its way to Yavin 4

"Cheer up girl, I'm here now," Han said, sitting near Leia. The girl was looking almost like she was falling apart.

"I... I don't know what to do captain, it's Luke in a way," Leia almost stuttered.

Han sighed. The girls always go for the prince in the end. "You like him right?"

Leia nodded. "Of course I do, but he's family."

Han blinked. "Um, what?" he asked.

Leia said, "He doesn't know and I'm not supposed to know. Some of the darkside agents are mind readers. Xander hinted that I have more family hidden away somewhere and when I came face to face with Luke. I felt an echo in the Force. He's my twin brother. I know it. What should I do?"

Han wondered what he should do. This was a far too dangerous situation for him. A crying cute girl, hell he was 25 and she was 18. Legal yes, but right now she was a CRYING female. That was worse than a Wookiee on a berserker trip. He had no idea what to do.

He hugged her and kissed her softly on the top of her head. "Well, farm-girl, I'm just a low life smuggler and a rogue, but I'm not sure. You should talk to Danni about it," he said.

Leia nodded. "Alright." Seeing that he was going to release her from the hug she said, "No, keep hugging me." She sighed softly. It felt so right being in his big arms.

-KNM-

Nearby

Danni lay nude on her bed and wished Xander was there. Using her skill in Zeltron Force healing, improved with Jedi method, it had taken her almost the whole night to do the first part of the healing ritual, but finally she had drained Luke's anger, blind hate and fear leaving behind only his sadness and depression.

The second part of the ritual, which would help him overcome the painful trauma and once again give him hope for the future, had gone much faster.

It only took five minutes. She looked down on the sleeping nude 18 year old boy whose head was resting between her breasts as he slept. She really missed Xander. He always lasted longer than that. Even with two girls in his bed.

She had to smile as she sensed that hope and joy filled the dreams of the young man again. She carefully manipulated them with mind affect, making sure he would not fall in love with her.

-KNM-

Later

Chloe looked a bit angry with Danni as she walked out, still dressing herself, from Luke's room. "How could you?" she asked.

Danni rolled her eyes. "I am a Zeltron healer. We heal the body and the mind. That boy suffered torture and saw his whole world being destroyed. If left unhealed, it would have taken decades before his mind was healed enough that he would be able to learn about the Force and even then, there was a real risk that he would have turned to the dark side. Now I have started to heal him, body, mind and soul. It is all part of the Force and one of the greatest ways of healing a wounded soul is by using love and, if done correctly, using sex."

Chloe blinked. "Um, you're married to Xander. Don't you love him and Jaina?" She felt that Danni was betraying her husband and was confused.

Danni giggled. "You're so cute. Of course I'm married to Xander and I love him and Jaina. My heart is not limited to loving only two people. I love Rona, Riley, Buffy, Willow, Dawn, Anakin, and you Chloe. I even love those I protect and if the best and fastest way to save, help and heal a person I care about is being unfaithful, then Xander and Jaina will have to accept that," she said, hugging Chloe's shoulder.

"And don't worry, Xander has survived," she said with a smile.

Chewbacca grumbled something about Zeltrons with a fond smile on his lips from old memories.

Strangely enough, so did C3P0 and R2D2.

Chloe nodded as she started to smile. Xander was alive. Of course, why should she worry? After all, it was ONLY Darth Vader, nothing compared to that spider thingy she had seen Xander fight.

End Chapter 15

**Chapter 27**

Note: Thanks to Inachis and Hawklan for making this fic more readable. 

Days later

Escorted by X-wings the Falcon entered the atmosphere of Yavin-4.

Han Solo could only whistle as he spotted the beautiful ship, a 40 meter long and heavily modified Ghtroc, sitting parked next to where he was land his ship. "Now Chewy that is money, whoever rebuilt that ship knew what they were doing."

Chewbacca growled out an agreement, but defended their Falcon in the same breath.

Han rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I know. The Falcon would fly circles around a slow bucket like that. I was just saying it's a sweet ship," he said, taking another look.

If he could get his hands on some of the good stuff the owner of that ship most likely had, then he could make the Falcon even better. Just now it had a Class 4 engine that he had boosted, so it moved like a class 8 with over 80 mglth. That was an insanely overcharged engine, but he and the furball made it work.

The Ghtroc over there had at least a class 7 engine, if not better.

Danni smiled. "The name of the ship is Enterprise and Xander is the owner. It has a class 10 engine and it's boosted to speeds up to 110 mglt," she bragged.

She had the right to brag. A tiny bit of manipulation and luck, and Han and Leia had discovered how much they loved each other, years before they would in their universe. All she had to do was to strip away some of Leia's and Han Solo's pride and self blindness at the right moment and they both saw the love in the other's heart. That, in her opinion, was the true use of mind manipulation.

Chewbacca changed his opinion. If he could make spare parts out of that ship...

Leia frowned. "But why didn't Xander let us use it?" she asked.

Danni smiled. "Because he asked Jaina to pick up your real teacher and also your teacher, Luke Organa, prince of Alderaan," she said, looking back. "Yoda is a Jedi and Grand Master of the Force. He is a great warrior, even if he himself dislikes his own fame, and he is also the greatest teacher in the Force there is. He has been a Jedi for over 800 years and lived for over 900."

Luke said, "By the Force. Master Yoda is alive? I've seen pictures of him, he's tiny."

"Really? " Leia asked her brother. She had confronted Danni about it and together they had talked with Luke. He of course was happy to have her as family, but wanted to check the story with a doctor droid later.

The ship landed. It was time to find a weakness in the Death Star.

-KNM-

Later

Han had his hand over her shoulder as they walked around when he heard a surprised voice call, "Wormy," from behind them.

Leia blushed as she screamed with a surprised tone in her voice, "BIGGS. What are you doing here?"

The man, younger than Han, but not by much, looked at him. "Hi. I'm Biggs Darklighter, a childhood friend of Leia's." Turning his head over to her, "I heard you were in the area, saving our prince and all. Way to go. Sorry to hear about your family."

Leia walked over and hugged him. "Thanks Biggs. By the way, that's Captain Han Solo. He helped us."

Biggs nodded. "Why don't I show you the diner?" he said, escorting them as they talked.

"Leia, why did he call you "Wormy"?" Han asked.

Leia blushed. "It's stupid."

Biggs answered, "No, it's not. She earned that name. She managed to fly at ground level through the whole Beggar's Canyon without crashing. She moved like an earthworm, but at full speed and flying only a meter above ground."

Han looked impressed. "That's great. What did you fly, a Swoop or...?" Behind them Leia muttered to herself: "It wasn't full speed. Just close."

Biggs said, "A Swoop? Sith spit, she was flying a T-16 airspeeder." The airspeeder was a perfect toy for wannabe pilots. It had controls and handlings remarkably similar to a Z-95 Headhunter or an X-wing.

Han froze. "That's almost impossible, to do that with a T16. I could perhaps, but I wouldn't bet on it."

Seeing the look on the others' faces, he explained. "I used to do swoop racing when I was 12-16 and some illegal air speeder racing, T14 and some T16. Swoops and big ships have always been my favorite, airspeeders and fighters, not as good."

Leia said, "Han is incredible in his ship."

Biggs nodded. "Anyway Leia, we're in need of pilots. I mentioned it to our wing commander and he asked me to find you. If you're good enough, you're in our squadron."

Leia face lighted up. "I'll go now. Han, the date later is still on, right?" she asked, worried.

Han nodded. "Sure honey, see you later." She rushed away, happy to get a chance to fly an X-wing.

God, he hoped the young farm girl wouldn't hurt herself. Jedi and now a pilot, he sighed.

Sensing that Biggs was still standing there, he looked at him. "Yeah, want something?" he asked, politely.

Biggs answered, "She's like my baby sister." He grabbed the smuggler by the jacket and lifted him of his feet as he slammed him against the wall. "Hurt Leia and I rip the arms off of your Wookiee and then beat you to death with them."

He then let Han fall down.

Han swallowed. What the hell were they feeding farm boys on Tatooine? "Sure. I would never hurt her."

Biggs shrugged. "Never seen her so happy before. Her eyes lit up when you called her honey. Welcome to the Rebel Alliance." He grinned. "If you run away, you hurt Leia and I kill you. So welcome," he said, before walking away.

It was a grumpy irritated Han Solo that entered the ship to prepare for his date, but the farm boy was right. The girl had wormed herself right into his heart. He couldn't abandon her any more than he could remove his heart with a rusty spoon and survive. Never had he fallen this hard and this fast before. Sith spit, he was getting soft.

-KNM-

At the same time

Yoda was amused. The girls Jaina and Danni did have good reasons. Not that he would tell them that or that he agreed. For the Jedi to survive, for the Jedi to save the Republic, if they managed to revive it in the first place, they had to change, to adapt. He acknowledged that and agreed, but not without a grudge. After all, after 800 years as a teacher and having lived for more than 900 years, he had the right to be a grumpy old man and no one would or could take that away from him, not even amusingly young Jedi Masters and Knights from who knew where.

Jaina was currently a bit angry with Danni. She had had sex with Luke. Sure it was to heal the pain the boy had suffered and to help him overcome the anger and rage he had, but the worst part was that she regretted nothing. It was the right thing to do, according to Danni, and knowing how the Zeltron healing methods worked, the only way she could have helped him. Jaina knew that.

She also knew she was being a bit unfair to Danni. It just felt wrong and she was angry. In her own reality, Luke was her uncle. In this one, he was a 18 year old boy that had been tortured and who had seen his own home world destroyed.

Just like her mother. Her version of Leia had told her only a little about what had happened, but dad told her more. The wound mom had suffered from the destruction of Alderaan had taken years to heal and it was still a raw wound festered in sadness and pain, and that pain had held her back from becoming a true Jedi Knight for years.

If she had gotten help earlier, then perhaps she could have become a real Jedi much faster.

"So, how long is it before Xander comes here?" Danni asked, a bit coldly, irritated over Jaina's unwillingness to accept that what she did was to help young Luke.

Jaina sighed. An angry, no, a disappointed Danni was not fun to sleep with. "I am sorry. It just got it mixed up in my head, young Luke, Uncle Luke, it's a brain stopper. You did the right thing, even if I don't like it," she grudgingly said.

Yoda just listened and ate the popcorn that nice young man Riley gave him. This was far better than the soap opera he used to watch. Riley seemed to agree.

"If I'm correct, he should be here tomorrow." Jaina said.

Outside, Luke returned after a sweaty training run around the military base. As a prince of Alderaan he had been trained in diplomacy, martial arts, weapons, tactics, strategy and history. The pain of losing his home and being tortured was still fresh inside of him, but the anger was gone. He no longer felt a blinding rage inside of him. He knew whose fault it was. It was Emperor Palpatine and the clone of his own father Anakin Skywalker, a clone by the name of Lord Vader. They were both monsters who drew their strength from the Dark side.

Danni and Jaina had explained the difference. The Dark side was quicker and faster to learn, but not stronger. It was the power of destruction and death. The Light side was slower and harder to learn, but stronger. It is the power of life itself.

He knew what he would aim for. The Dark corrupts and he would not use that power. No, the Light side was far more powerful, even if it is slower, and one day he or his new sister Leia would bring justice to Palpatine and the clone.

Justice, not revenge, would be his goal.

Luke leaned against the wall of the temple. Now the question was: How the hell would he survive? Soon, Jedi Master Xander Harris would return. A Jedi Master who had fought Lord Vader inside the Death Star and survived, and he had slept with that Jedi's wife, Danni.

Xander would kill him.

Luke just knew he was a dead man walking.

-KNM-

Next day

The rebels were spooked by the appearance of the Jedi group, but their presence also spread new hope. The Jedi were coming and the dark would fall. The appearance of an Imperial crew shuttle spooked them again when it landed and they silently met the man walking out of it. Rumors had spread that he had fought the Dark Lord on the Death Star and escaped alive.

Walking out of the shuttle Xander's face was unseen under the helmet he wore, but he could feel the silence and the awe of the rebels as he walked down the ramp slowly, removing his helmet.

He hugged and kissed both Jaina and Danni before saying hello to the others and to Yoda. In his own reality Yoda was one out of many Force ghosts that often visited him and talked to him. This was the first time he saw the tiny green guy alive or a version of him anyway.

"The Death Star is coming. It's only hours away," Xander said, as he looked over the small group. Turning to see Han Solo he said, "Captain, I hope we can count on your help."

The smuggler sneaked a peak at his girlfriend, who was smiling at him and wearing one of those rebel uniforms. With a grin he turned back to the Jedi Master. "Well, doing the right thing is its own reward they say. I'd just like to kick their ass."

A loud cheering sound came from around him.

Inside, Han wanted nothing, but to jump on the ship and run away as fast as he could, but somehow, in record time. Leia had wormed herself into his heart and he wouldn't leave her and she would never abandon the rebels. "I just need to borrow a pair of gunners and me and my ship is ready to fight." He turned to Xander. "How is your ship then?"

Xander turned and checked his ship. "It was built ready." Inside, he could feel the power of the void. If the missile was unable to destroy the Death Star, he was sure a dimensional void could rip it in half. Granted it would also rip himself and anybody nearby in half, but it would work in theory or it would dump the whole Death Star into a random dimension.

The Death Star was coming. What a mistake for the Death Star.

-KNM-

Later

The hangar was a mess as ship after ship prepared to lift off.

Han watched the X-wings from the cockpit of the Falcon. Out there was the tiny farm girl turned Jedi student that for some reason loved him. A girl he had fallen for and now she was inside a tiny X-wing, preparing it to attack the Death Star. "I got a bad feeling about this," he complained.

Chewbacca roared beside him.

Slowly the Falcon lifted and the nearby the Enterprise followed.

Behind them Luke's voice was heard from the gun turret as he wished his co-gunner good luck.

Chloe grinned as she waved her hand. They would so kick ass.

**Chapter 28**

Note: Thanks to Inachis and Hawklan for making this fic more readable. 

Inside the Enterprise

Xander flipped some switches and double checked that all systems were a go, as they followed the X-Wings in Red squadron out into space. "Alright team, this is a big one. No reason to be nervous."

Jaina, who had decided to remain inside the Enterprise instead of using her X-Wing, as it would just cause questions, nodded. She was currently sitting further back in the ship. One of the skills she was good at was the power of battle meditation and it was one skill she was planning to use in this battle.

Rona, in the upper gun turret, looked down at Buffy, who was sitting in the lower gun turret. She missed having Chloe in that turret, but Chloe had made her choice and she would be missed.

Buffy looked and waved. "Any tips?" she asked the more experienced gunner.

Rona answered, "Yeah. If a hostile is in the coin lane, warn Xander and me. Unless we get him, it could get ugly."

The coin lane was the side of the ship. The one angle no turret or weapon on the ship could shoot at. It was a difficult area to successful fly in, as the enemy had to fly almost directly to the side of the ship or both turrets would be able to hit him enroute. It was called the coin lane, as it was the side of the ship. The top side was often called head and the bottom numbers, after a standard Republic coin. One side had a picture of the president (Head of state), while the other had the number designating the coin's value. The coin lane was the side of the ship where fewer weapons were usually posted.

Buffy nodded. "I'll do that," she said. They hadn't had much time to train together and a good gunner should work as a part of a team.

In the front Riley sat by the missile launcher, waiting for a target. It was almost relaxing, being a missile gunner. Like a sniper, he just had to wait for the right moment to pull the trigger. He hoped Lexa, who was sitting in the energy missile turret, would be able to handle it.

Outside the sky darkened as the small attack fleet entered space.

Danni, sitting by the sensor computer, calmly read the information. She was not surprised over Xander's reaction earlier. He understood and wasn't even angry. Luke needed her help and she gave it to him. That there was no love or passion involved, just her need to help a person she cared about as a Zeltron healer. Xander had understood that. Strangely enough Jaina had more difficulties with it. She had expected more from Jaina. Not that Xander hadn't taken the chance to scare the hell out of Luke, but he did it just for the kicks and then talked to the kid and also talked to Leia about her lessons.

Yoda was a good teacher for her and Luke. In only a short time he had seen that she had improved dramatically. Luke was following her improvement a bit slower, something was holding him back.

It looked like Luke learned slower and toggled through the lesson repeatedly to make sure he mastered all of it before learning something new. The young man seemed focused on the lightside, refusing to take even the shortest short cut. Leia wasn't as afraid of learning. She learned as much as possible, then mastered it later and as a result, she was learning faster than Luke was. Sometimes she was brushing close to the darkside in her eagerness to learn.

Xander wasn't that worried about it as she was grounded in the lightside, just like Luke. The presence of Han Solo and Luke and also her Skywalker blood made it far more difficult for her to be captured by the darkside.

Jaina said that the speed Leia was learning reminded her on how fast he himself had learned.

Yoda on the other hand reminded them that Palpatine's ability to manipulate emotions and capture people by using them could be Leia's undoing. In that Xander had to agree. It was Danni that helped, explaining some meditation methods she had learned from the Jensaarai that could and would help Leia and Luke.

Yoda was fascinated by them. It was a good way to help Leia and the Force improved armor would be a definite help in keeping Jedi alive during these hard years.

Xander shook his head free from the recent memories. He had a Death Star to destroy. A small grin came to his face; this was a legend he was becoming a part of.

Red leader's voice was heard as he ordered the X-Wings to attack position and all fighters to attack speed.

Outside the window a small artificial moon was seen, a moon called the Death Star.

Whining sounds were heard as weapon system after weapon system inside the Enterprise was activated.

Beside Xander, in the co-pilot seat, Anakin flipped some switches, activating the double blaster cannon. "This is going to get tough," he said simply.

Xander nodded. He had a bad feeling about this. In their reality only Darth Vader's own wing of TIE-Fighter had attacked. There were 72 fighters in an Imperial fighter wing. The rebel wings only had 36 fighters. The Death Stars had hundreds of fighter wings, 102 Wings of TIE-Fighters in total, 7344 TIE-Fighters in all. If all wings where scrambled, the battle would turn into a slaughter.

-KNM-

At the same time inside the Death Star.

"Activate the TIE-Fighters. I want 10 wings in space now and ready my wing," Lord Vader said.

Grand Moff Tarkin turned to him. "Of course. It does feel like overkill though, Lord Vader," he said simply.

The Dark Lord answered, "Then overkill it will be."

The Grand Moff nodded and the order was given. 720 TIE-Fighters and Lord Vader's own wing against the rebel's one wing, it would be a slaughter.

-KNM-

In space the pilots whispered in awe about the size of that thing.

Red leader silenced them, "We have incoming by the Force, ready fighters."

Dawn in the Enterprise said, "It's 10 wings, no 11 wings. Vader's own death wing is following."

Inside the galley Jaina took a deep breath as she focused her skill in battle meditation, seeding confusion, fear and illusion in the minds of the enemy pilots while enhancing the skills of the rebels.

In the cockpit Anakin shifted places with Dawn as he helped her, using his own skills in the less powerful dimming of the senses of the enemy pilots. A power also used to attack groups.

Xander grinned. Those two powers were areas where he was lacking. He never did manage to use either power effectively, but Jaina rocked in it. As her dad once said, when the going gets though, the Jedi go dreaming.

In space it looked like it was raining TIE-Fighters, as squadron after squadron attacked.

Xander felt sweat roll down his back as he rolled the ship, using the Enterprise's stronger shields to protect the X-Wings. Rona and Buffy were shooting as fast as they could. They were hardly able to catch up with the constant rain of TIE-Fighters attacking the X-Wings.

On the other side the Millennium Falcon had the same problem.

Xander felt irritated. "Willow, call the fighters and tell them to split up in three teams. Team one, trench run. Try to blow it up. Team two hangs around the Falcon and team three to us." He twitched the control, sending the Enterprise in a deep roll, intercepting a flight of TIE-Fighters.

Willow answered simply, "OK."

Beside Xander, now in the co-pilot seat, Dawn was doing her best to shoot with the auto-cannon while performing her duties as her co-pilot. Somehow Xander managed to order them all around while piloting and doing most of her task at the same time. She focused on shooting instead, afraid of getting in the way.

She could sense Xander relax, one less problem to worry about.

Xander nodded. "Good, tell teams two and three to stay close to mommy and Willow, use the sensor-jammer, broad rays on the eyeballs," he said with a smile as he was sending the Enterprise in a tight screwdriver dive, right to the center of the TIE-Fighter wings.

In a small X-wing outside, Wedge shook his head at the order. Unless those two cargo ships both had master pilots, that order would be foolish. No way could a cargo bulk keep up with X-Wings. Then he saw the Eyeballs squadron shatter in panic as the Enterprise suddenly came flying out from the centre of the tightly organized enemy wings.

Laser cannons, concussion missiles and energy torpedoes were flying from the Enterprise. Even from the long distance of 2000 MGLT Wedge's X-Wing could feel the power of the Enterprise's sensor jammer as it spread temporally blindness to the TIE-Fighters.

The X-Wings and Y-Wings regrouped around the two transports as the battle continued.

More TIE-Fighter wings were suddenly appearing from the Death Star. The fight turned ugly very quickly, as the squadrons of fighters rained down on them.

Inside the Enterprise Jaina did her best, turning confused TIE-Fighter pilots to attack their own wing mates. She also used her power to help coordinate the rebel pilots and put courage into their hearts.

Anakin Solo in the cockpit used his power to dim the senses of others to confuse the enemy pilots' vision, jamming them with darkness and illusions. It was a great power to use against large numbers of enemies, but one quite close to the darkside. Jaina's battle meditation was more powerful than his dimming of the senses, even if the two skills were related.

"I'm getting ready to make the run," Leia said as she piloted the X-Wing down the trench on the Death Star.

Wedge and Biggs Darklighter followed her in.

In the Falcon's gunner turret, Luke Organa hoped his new sister would survive the day.

Xander was feeling the pressure as the Death Star came closer and out of the shadow of Yavin-1. Soon it would be able to fire at Yavin-4. He ignored that for now as the never ending rain of TIE-Fighters had destroyed most of the Y-Wings and many of the X-Wings. Now he had a TIE-Interceptor with an ace of a pilot right in front of him.

Inside the TIE-Interceptor Lord Vader maneuvered closer to the Death Star, closely followed by the Enterprise. The cargo ship refused to leave him, as they skimmed the surface of the Death Star.

"The fighter is luring us away from the main battle. Let him be Xander," Danni hoped they would not regret having to do that.

Xander nodded as he twisted the ship away, wondering who that pilot was. Something about that ship looked like one he should remember. In the stress of the battle he had completely forgotten the picture of the holographic information on Lord Vader's Tie-Interceptor he had seen.

Back in the fireball the rebels were losing quickly. Even with Jaina's help they were just too outnumbered by the Imperial Fighters.

Xander could feel Leia's disappointment and could hear it over the radio as she missed the first shot and was returning for a second. Using the Force he sent a message -Use the Force Leia- He hoped the girl got the idea.

"Incoming TIE-Fighters. X, can you protect Leia?" Han asked.

Xander answered, "No, too far away. It is your turn captain." Damn it was that TIE-Interceptor again. Now it was after Leia.

He could see Darklighter's ship suddenly explode. Then suddenly from the fire like hell a burned and damaged X-Wing shot out. It almost collided with Leia's ship before it did an unsteady loop, almost colliding with a gun turret before it attacked.

The TIE-Interceptor's wing mate on the left suddenly exploded from the fire blast of Biggs X-Wing.

Biggs fired all of his torpedoes down on the three TIE's that were trying to kill his friend and wing mate Wedge Antilles and childhood friend Leia.

All right, she was not his friend exactly, more like annoying younger sister that you never wanted to see hurt and he still wasn't sure about that scoundrel Han Solo.

Wedge, flying shield behind Leia, abused the situation by doing a crazy spin turn in the small space. He used his repulsors to rocket himself out of the trench and sent a rain of laser bots down on the super TIE and its remaining wing mate.

It wasn't a complete victory as the TIE-Interceptor sent two bolts of deadly lasers right into Wedge's X-Wing. The fighter rocked, unsteady, as he was forced to abandon the battle. Darth Vader had managed to hit flight control and life support, his fighter had almost no maneuver ability left and air was becoming a luxury. "I'm done for. I have to run and hide. Good luck," he said while slowly turning around.

Biggs swore as his R4 unit beeped nervously. He had lost two out of 4 engines and the remaining two were at only 25 % capacity. He was dead unless he escaped. No way he would. He then saw something coming, diving down into the battle. "My X-Wing is falling apart. It's up to you now. Stay alive Leia."

Leia was alone with the TIE-Interceptor after her. A blast from the TIE- Interceptor made R2 explode. "R2. I lost R2," she whined.

Now Xander knew who the pilot was. It was Lord Vader himself.

Suddenly Leia was forced to dodge as the Falcon skimmed the surface of the trench, blasting it with concussion missiles.

Lord Vader rolled his fighter and flew straight up, only to come face to face with the front of the Falcon. The two ships collided, creating a small explosion. Hull plates and armor drifted away as the TIE- Interceptor lost control and flew away into deep space, leaving one of its own wings behind.

"Yeehaa, take that you asshole," Han screamed while he forced his ship back under control again. "Don't fall apart baby. Just don't fall apart," he petted the control of his ship. Outside the cargo mandibles were damaged from the crash.

Xander grinned. That was a sweet move. "-USE THE FORCE-" he said mentally to Leia.

Chapter 29

Yavin-4

Down on the ground, control became nervous. Why was Red five turning off the targeting computer?

"Red five, this is ground control. Is something wrong? Why have you turned off your targeting computer?" the com officer asked.

-KNM-

Space above the Death Star

Leia, stressed out, answered honestly, "Nothing is wrong. The voice in my head told me to." Inside, she smacked herself. That didn't sound good.

-KNM-

Yavin-4

"Who hired that crazy girl?" an angry voice yelled out.

"Hmm, trust the Force. She does. Good it is, she is aiming with the Force." Yoda said. "Remember, you should, student of the Force she is. Powerful help the Force can give you." He snorted. "Phaa, targeting computer. Amusing toy it is." Nobody called one of his students crazy. Even if the girl was crazy to try a trick like that so soon.

-KNM-

In space

There it was, she could feel the target coming up and more TIE-fighters were on their way. Both the Millennium Falcon and the Enterprise were above her.

Closer, the world slowed down, seconds felt like minutes, then hours. She felt, rather saw, when to pull the trigger.

R2 behind her was silent, the damage he had suffered was severe and he would need a completely new body after this, but his memory and all the important parts in his core were safe and unhurt. He could still see using the X-wings sensors, but not speak or communicate, and he was nervous.

Inside the X-Wing Leia pulled the trigger. Two small torpedoes flew out from her X-Wing and straight into the Death Star.

Han's voice screamed, "They're inside, pull up now!"

-KNM-

Inside the Death Star

"Begin firing sequence," Tarkin said calmly. Nothing could hurt this battle station.

-KNM-

On Yavin-4 they waited.

The power started to build inside the Death Star. Power not just able to destroy a planet, but power able to completely shatter a planet into a gigantic asteroid field, a power more then 10 000 times than which was needed to destroy an Earth sized planet. No energy shield in the universe could resist the power of the Death Star.

Inside the big ship, two tiny missiles flew down deeper and deeper.

Inside the Death Star the power is building up, the super laser conduits were warming up, light started to shine from the power points.

In a hangar a shuttle pilot cleared a rescue and recover order and lifted off with his shuttle, filled with medical and rescue personal. He felt a bit nervous about the flight, within seconds rocks would fill the space of this region and that would be a bit of a hazard for him.

Then his shuttle left for space.

The Death Star gunner officer turned around. "Ready to fire, Sir."

Tarkin nodded. "Fire," he said, looking out from the window of the control tower. This was one explosion he did not want to miss and he did not miss it.

Suddenly it all exploded.

The crew of the Enterprise saw the Death Star explode.

The Crew of the Millenium Falcon saw the Death star go boom.

Leia, Biggs and Wedge saw the Death Star go super nova behind them.

The ground control crew saw it.

Yoda felt the destruction and the death of so many and felt a mix of happiness and sadness over the death of so many misguided fools.

-KNM-

The Imperial rescue shuttle was almost destroyed by the first shock wave, but was saved from the second by an asteroid they were flying around. In a damaged shuttle they watched in shock as the Death Star and not the planet exploded. The rebels had murdered millions in their mad terrorist way. Why could they not just accept the peace and order the Empire offered everybody?

A damaged Super-TIE-fighter rocked in space, its pilot having finally managed to gain control of the ship. Seeing the destruction of the Death Star, Lord Vader turned towards Yavin-4. There was only one way he could find a way out of here.

-KNM-

Later

Out of 32 fighters and two powerful space transports, only 3 fighters and the transports returned.

2 of the fighters were held by the Enterprises tractor beam, and the two transports looked like they needed repairs, especially the Millenium Falcon.

The rebels cheer and joy could be felt even by the rocks around them as the sound echoed around the hangar.

Leia was hugged and then hugged and kissed by rebels overjoyed so many times, she felt like she was drowning. A technician ensured her that R2 would be repaired.

Then finally Biggs and Chewbacca saved her from the jubilant crowd. Like a big bully, Biggs used his strong arms to clear a path so that she could walk without being tossed around like a rag doll.

In the safe arms of Han Solo Leia finally let her happiness, fear and joy out as she hugged him, kissed him and cried in joy. She did it.

Han just laughed and kissed her and the lifted her up in his arms, both were talking but neither of them cared what the other said. Drunk on happiness and adrenalin, they joined the victory party.

Following them Chloe grabbed a surprised Luke Organa by his shoulder. "Prince-toy, you are coming with me," the Force Guardian said with a wicket smile on her lips. "I'm going to show you how to party." She pulled Luke back inside the Falcon.

Outside the Enterprise Rona sighed. "She's going to stay here. Isn't she?" she said, looking at the rest of the gang.

Xander looked at her. "Yes, she found what she's looking for, to protect Leia and as a bonus in Luke."

Rona dried some tears. "I'm going to miss her."

Xander nodded. "Yeah, me too."

Riley snorted. "We did the hero thing. So should we go and party or drive off into the night?"

Dawn cried out in alarm, "No way. I'm going to party first."

Lexa nodded, "Yeah, let's have fun, get more ammunition and then leave."

Buffy looked at Willow then spoke, "We're just going to make it harder for her, you know."

Xander looked at Jaina and the rest of the crew. "We have one more thing to do and then we leave," Xander said.

Jaina answered, "Get the ship ready and once it is done, we are leaving."

"We have yes. More to do and difficult it is," Yoda said from where he suddenly stood.

Inside the Falcon Chloe felt a tear fall down, she knew they would leave without a goodbye. Just the way she wanted it. No painful goodbyes, just vanish into the night and leave her finally at home where she was needed. With the people that would need her in the future.

"What is it?" Luke asked.

Chloe shook her head. "Nothing, just remembering that I'm going to stay to protect Leia and your ass. A fine ass, if I say so. My friends will leave for their home. Mine is here with you and Leia. I'm your Guardian," she said with a smile.

Tomorrow she would cry, but not today.

-KNM-

Later in the forest

Lord Vader was ignored by the animals as he came closer to the rebel stronghold.

"Hmm. Strong you are, but foolish it is to come here, Sith," Yoda said.

A second voice added. "Doesn't look that impressive to me. On the other hand, a Skywalker like me doesn't scare easily," Jaina said.

Lord Vader rocked. "You are Anakin's child. I thought I killed you and your bitch of a mother," the clone said in anger.

Jaina smirked inside her own armor. "Not exactly Sith. I'm from a different time line. A student with dimensional crossing power accidently got us here or perhaps we were guided by the Force and seeing a clone body of my grandpa is amusing," she said.

The clone Sith growled, "I see." Snapp hiss and his light saber was activated. "You are a fool. I am stronger than the original idiot I was cloned from. I have the power of the Dark Side itself."

"And what a foolish power that is indeed," Xander said from the tree trunk he was leaning on.

"You," Lord Vader said. "So you finally have the courage to face me, now that you have allies with you."

Xander answered, "No, not allies, friends and wife to be precise. I am a Skywalker by marriage. Yo ho ho grandpa in law and no, I'm not going to fight you with my lightsaber. It's the green smurfs and my wife's turn," Xander said, ignoring the irritated look Yoda gave him.

Lord Vader wasted no more time. He attacked.

Jaina parried, her Form-3 Soresu shielded her and Yoda and the two started to fight.

Now and then Yoda attacked physically, using Form-4 Ataru, but mostly he focused his skill to weakening the cloned Dark Lord's spirit.

Jaina felt the strength as Vader constantly attacked her, using his telekinetic skills in trying to crush her armor or even her heart. She parried as fast as she could.

Vader had to dodge as Yoda jumped over him and slashed at his head with that lightdagger blade of his. A telekinetic push was parried even before he had a chance to use it by the little green fool.

Then the girl attacked, using a weak Makashi stab. He dodged it by backing away quickly and he had to jump away from Yoda's attack in the back. He counter attacked. Something was strange; Xander just stood there watching.

Jaina parried his attack and felt a breach in Vader mind defense. "NOW," she said, driving in a mental attack in a try to crush the will power of Vader. From nearby Yoda was doing the same thing, then he was surrounded by Force Light as the purifying light engulfed both of them.

From their hidden positions Anakin Solo and Danni appeared, both of them joined Jaina in the attack.

One by one all of them joined the fight. Yoda used Force Light to subdue Lord Vader and to separate him from the dark side.

The clone was shocked, in a moment of weakness he had let himself be surrounded. Anytime now they would kill him with their lightsabers.

Xander knew now was the time. He stretched out, using his own unique ability to summon Force spirits.

Anakin Skywalker, a murdered husband and Jedi Knight, a hero of the rebellion and father of twins, stood in front of him.

Xander moved forward anchoring the spirit of Anakin with the power of the Force Light, as he turned to Lord Vader.

The clone screamed in terror, but was tied down by Yoda and the rest as the spirit of the man he and his master had murdered entered his body.

A scream was heard over the whole planet as Lord Vader died, captured by the madness of the darkside.

Anakin Skywalker, Jedi Master, stood up alive again for the first time in over 18 years. "It worked, I am alive," he said, removing the helmet.

Yoda answered, "Tired I am, tired and happy. Sleep I need, dangerous and wrong what we did was. Needed, but wrong," he said.

Xander nodded, "We are going now. Between the two of you I'm sure Luke and Leia will grow in strength fast, but Anakin, keep Chloe safe, if you can," he said.

The crew of the Enterprise left the two, returning to the ship.

Yoda smiled as Anakin carried him back to the base. "Remove that armor we first must," he said and Anakin nodded. "Indeed or I'll scare the crap out of the rebels," he said as the two of them walked back, unseen by the rebels partying inside the base.

-KNM-

As the night fell on Yavin-4, a lone shuttle watched in shock as the Enterprise vanished into a void.

Added side note: While writing the part with Leia Skywalker and Luke Organa I was tempted to make a Han Solo in to a Hanna Solo. It did not work. All failed, but it would have been fun with Leia and Hanna trying to charm the Prince of Alderaan.


	10. Chapter 30 to 35

Note: Thanks to Inachis and Hawklan for making this fic more readable.

Chapter 30

Inside the Enterprise

The ship was hanging around in deep space, running silently with only life support and lights active. It was almost invisible to any sensors.

Inside the ship there were many activities going on.

In the empty hangar Willow and Dawn were pounding each other with training lightsabers, doing their best to give each other some bruises.

Rona and Buffy were teaching them. Currently they were teaching the two students to use the Force to move faster.

Rona grinned, "Faster Dawn, she's gaining on you."

Buffy grinned, "Go Willow, go Dawn, faster, faster." She giggled, "This is way to difficult. My best friend and my sister. Who do I want to win?"

Dawn dried some sweat from her forehead and shouted, "Me me me."

Willow answered, grinning, "Hey, she wants ME to win." Then she moved as fast as she could. A Makashi stab then a side step and a wide uncontrolled sweeping cut that forced Dawn to parry, then jump in panic only to fall down on her ass.

"I win," Willow said while grinning happily and then turned to Rona. "You said you would give a special price to the winner."

Rona nodded, "Yeah, the loser will have to do training katas and the winner will get a secret price. A training match with me." She grinned evilly as Willow paled and muttered that it was unfair.

Dawn shouted, "Yay." No way did she want to fight Rona or Buffy. Those two were murder waiting to happen. As she started on her katas under Buffy's watchful eyes, she remembered the talk Xander had given her and her friends about her emotional problem. The last couple of days Lexa had behaved a bit strange around her. She couldn't really understand why. Didn't Xander tell them that her problem was nothing serious, nothing to worry about?

Dawn shrugged as her mind re-wrote her memory of her problem to something less worrying.

-KNM-

As the greasily murdering training fight started between Willow and Rona, Xander was doing something different inside the power room.

"Hmm, this is different," he said, studying the Minbari targeting cloak. Now where could he install it?

Lexa, sitting nearby ready to help, looked pensive, "Xander, is Dawn's problem really that dangerous?" she asked.

Xander mumbled, "Hmm, near the energy shield or particle shield I think." Then he blinked, "Did you say something?"

Lexa groaned. "YES. Is Dawn's problem that dangerous?" she asked her stupid big brother again.

Xander nodded. "Yes, it is and no, it's not. Having an optimistic disorder, as she has, makes her naive and people with her disorder tend to forget bad things that happened or mistakes they made. Of course, with help and friends that look after her, she should be safe," he said then turned to his sister.

"And unlike most Jedi, Dawn is immune to the Darkside and is probably the best friend you could ever have. She's also one of the rare natural born good beings. Evil has no place to grow in her heart."

He studied the gizmo in his hand. "The worst part of Dawn's problem is that she tends to forget or re-write bad memories after a while. The accident and the many dead crew members in the Dagger Corvette for example is something Dawn has mostly managed to forget," he said, looking a bit sad. "That's the reason why Jedi normally do not train students like Dawn to become Jedi. They're just too irresponsible. Most are extremely loyal to the friends they have, though."

Lexa nodded. "So, do you think you can install that thingy?" she asked, using Buffy's name for technology of any kind. Inside she shivered, remembering the many dead bodies inside the Dagger corvette, the ship they gave to Star Gate Command.

Xander nodded, distracted. "I hope so. Sure, our sensors and targeting system can penetrate the Minbari targeting cloak, but not easily and not at long range, so it's a powerful protection against enemy ship weapons." The problem was that the Enterprise had so many different systems. A Minbari ship didn't have the energy shields that would or could interfere with the targeting cloak.

His best idea would be to hook it up around the shielding system as they were the main enemy of the targeting cloak, and bypass the interference from the shield that way. That would fry the targeting cloak though unless he created an energy buffer between the two.

-KNM-

The energy buffers were easy to build, but installing them showed to be tricky. The bio-armor had been much easier to install and was growing in thickness by the day, even with the damage they had taken from the Death Star run.

At least he had a Minbari fighting pike hanging on the wall.

This cloak was giving him a headache. He could feel that there was a simple solution to the problem, hiding right around the corner, but he just couldn't see it. A buffer system was just an emergency solution anyway.

Still, the Enterprise needed down time on a planet. Many of the outer systems of the hull were in dire need of replacement and repair. He smirked while thinking about all the techno blueprints he had given to Chloe. Whoever was the Rebel technician would have hell of a time rebuilding those treasures.

Thanks to these treasures the Enterprise was one of the most dangerous ships in the Star Wars galaxy.

One thing did bother him. Han Solo still had a faster ship than he had. Dam you Han Solo.

He could feel that Lexa still wanted to talk to him. Sighing to himself, it was time for him do the big brother thing. "So, what's up Lexa? I can feel you worry about something?"

"Nothing," Lexa lied. Seeing Xander stare at her like she was an idiot, she confessed. "I'm worried and irritated. Dawn's happiness could kill her. My lessons as a gunner are going too slow, even if my PSI lessons are finally going somewhere," she sighed, "and I want to go home back to our Jedi school."

Xander hugged her. "Me too." He really wanted to be home on Shesharile-5. He was longing for an afternoon watching the Swoop races on the 3D projector. Even doing Judge Duty was something he was longing for. "I wouldn't even mind Judge Duty at this point."

Doing Judge Duty was often boring and it also demanded lots of responsibility. On Shesharile a criminal has the right to demand a Jedi trial instead of a normal Judge, Jury and lawyers that argue. If a Jedi is available, then he becomes both the Judge and the Jury and no lawyers are used.

The Jedi is supposed to judge with the wisdom and guidance of the Force, a boring and difficult thing to accomplish and an awful lot of responsibility to find out the truth and be a fair judge.

Lexa giggled, she knew how much both Xander and Jaina disliked doing the Judge thingy. Of course, she could understand that. "Remember the case of the two swoop drivers?" she asked, still giggling, remembering a case Xander had had to sit on. It began as the owner mistook the neighbors swoop as his own and crashed it and the two started a big fight that started a big fire and it all ended in a law suit where the whole neighborhood was involved, angry at the two swoop owning guys.

Xander nodded. "Yeah, that was an irritating case. Still think that lady was a greedy troll in disguise," he said, shivering over how greedy one of the complainers had been.

Lexa smiled. "Well, her land-speeder had been damaged in the fire," she said with a smile.

The two grinned at each other before breaking of the hug and started to work again. They had a targeting cloak to install.

-KNM-

In another part of the ship

Riley and Danni were also working hard with the energy torpedo targeting system. Danni's skills in computers and sensor operators and Riley skill in torpedo and missile systems made it their duty to do it. It was a bit slow to lock on a target and Xander and Jaina had not been able to find out why the torpedo system refused to cooperate.

So far Danni and Riley were stumped too, as the system just refused to cooperate.

It ended with Riley helping Danni to take apart the targeting computer.

-KNM-

Hours later in the galley

Buffy and Rona finished putting the food on the table as they sat down to eat.

Danni came with less than happy news. "The targeting computer you got for the energy torpedoes is worthless. The crystal matrix has broken down completely. We have to replace the whole computer."

Xander groaned. "No. Our only way to do that is to build one. I hate building computers," he said, hanging his head, then lifted it again as he got a sniff of the food in front of him, which quickly chased away any negative mood. "I do have some broken down droid parts R3 doesn't need and targeting computers from some TIE-Fighters" he said. "If I use them and the faulty computer, I think I could jury-rig something that would work. A bit more bulky than the real deal, but it should work just as well until we can get the real deal," he mused out loud.

The others nodded.

Behind them R3 sighed, humans. He quickly beeped to Xander to remind him that he had a spare targeting computer to both the missile and the torpedo systems sitting unused in the back of the cargo space.

Dawn blinked and then started to giggle.

Danni joined her. "Well, that solves our problem." Then she kissed Xander. "My hero," she said as she continued eating.

Xander blushed.

"What did R3 say?" Willow asked.

Xander, still blushing, answered, "Um nothing." He felt stupid. How could he forget about those spare parts?

Dawn with a happy voice informed the rest of the gang of the spare parts Xander had forgotten about and soon they were all laughing at him.

Sighing Xander said, "We have to find a planet. The ship is in desperate need of repairs and maintenance."

R3 rolled away, happy with himself. Now his master would learn some much needed humility and it sounded nice when the humans were laughing. Being a droid was hard work, you constantly needed to keep your owners well trained. At least his humans were easy to train. Unlike Luke's R2-D2, his humans were completely out of control, R3 was thinking as he rolled away.

As the ship slowly drifted closer and closer to a nearby planet for repairs and maintenance, the Jedi crew was meditating or sleeping as Riley piloted the ship.

-KNM-

Dawn was in deep self investigation as she meditated. Something was bothering her since the last two jumps. As she slowly reexamined her memory, she suddenly saw it. Each jump, each dimension she had been on, she knew where they were and more important, she knew how to return home.

"Xander," she screamed as she jumped up and rushed out of her room, ignoring the rest of the gang in the sleeping room.

"Uh," said Lexa with a sleep filled brain she automatically activated her kinetic shield and used a mild kinetic strike to push herself out of the bed and on the floor. As the tail end of Dawn left the room, Lexa sat up on the floor, watching her friend vanish. No enemy was attacking.

"Dawn!" she yelled. "I was sleeping, you bitch," Lexa growled as she rushed after her.

In the nearby guest room Buffy groaned as she heard her sister go screaming after Xander. Then Lexa started to scream. Why, why now? She looked down at her enemy. An electronic system repair test she was fighting.

No, Dawn would have to fix it herself. This was one enemy she had to win against. Boosting her mental ability as much as she could, Buffy attacked the problem again.

Nearby Willow groaned, first Buffy refused to go to sleep and then Dawn starts running amok.

She put on a t-shirt and walked out to the galley. Perhaps some food or some tea could help her sleep.

Sitting innocently in the galley, Anakin was eating a sandwich when he heard Dawn scream. He immediately stood up and started to move towards her bedroom. He quickly changed direction as she rushed by him, followed by Lexa.

-KNM-

Xander was in heaven. His face was hidden by Jaina as she was sitting on it, trembling in orgasmic pleasure as he was eating her. The blanket was moving around as Danni was hiding under it, giving him an incredible blowjob. Teasing him, bringing him closer and closer to orgasm, she'd then stop and let him cool down a bit before she attacked again. Just focusing on Jaina was almost impossible.

He was in heaven.

Then the door opened and Dawn rushed in.

Behind her Lexa and Anakin followed her inside.

Two of them froze in panic. Neither Lexa nor Anakin had any wish to see their brother/sister having oral sex with each other. "By the Force, I'm blind," Anakin complained.

Lexa blushed infrared. Why could she not move? She wanted out of there.

Dawn ignored everything as she started to pace around inside the room, talking to them or herself. "I know the way home. I can sense the direction in dimensions. It's like a road. I can see it Xander," she babbled.

On the bed Xander was frozen in panic, not even his tongue was moving, as he heard and sensed who was inside the room. Jaina legs, on each side of his head, were blocking his vision, but he heard Dawn talking about something and he could sense Lexa and Anakin standing only a short distance from the bed.

Then Dawn in irritation turned and really looked at them to see why they weren't speaking to her and she started to blush. "a. se. yo. i. sor. Ry." She had to do something run or...

Jaina was also frozen in shock. "YOU! OUT!" she screamed.

Then the blanket was removed and an irritated Danni stood up. "Typical. Now both of them lost the lust for wild group sex. Thank you SO much Dawn. I was looking forward to it the whole day and then you destroy it. I'm going to take a bath," he huffed as she walked out. Her red sweaty skin was glittering in the low light.

Jaina quickly grabbed the blanket. "Talk to them Xander." She was too angry, to upset to talk at the moment. Grabbing her pants she rushed out, following Danni to the bath.

Sighing sadly Xander sat up nude, grabbing his pants from the floor and quickly putting them on. "I hope you have a good, no, a great reason for this Dawn. I'm a bit frustrated at the moment." He used the Force to activate the lights in the room.

Dawn nodded. She was still body blushing.

Beside her Lexa and Anakin kept their eyes closed and trying to use the Force and the PSI ability to forget what they saw. So far, they were failing.

All Anakin could think about was the fact that Xander, Danni and Jaina all claimed they were going to meditate and relax, being one with the Force. IF they called that meditating, when did they ever get a change to sleep and rest?

Dawn suddenly blushed as she burst out, "No wonder dead people keep coming by to talk with Xander." They all stared.

-KNM-

Later in the ship galley

With a cup of chocolate in his hand a much calmer Xander listened to Dawn as she told him what she found out during meditation. "Good work Dawn. I knew you would find a way sooner or later," he said with a smile. Inside he was giggling, the droid oil bath in the repair bay. Yes Dawn would get to know that oil bath close and personal as she would have to change and clean the filter. A work the robots normally handled themselves.

Lexa opened her eyes. Trying not to look her brother in the eyes she asked, "Did you know that?"

Listening in Willow could hardly drink as she tried to stop herself from giggling. The pure look of terror on Dawn's, Lexa's and Anakin's faces, not to forget the absolute look of embarrassment and frustration Xander had had on his face had been fun.

She didn't have to be a genius to understand what had happen. No way, an angry Danni had told her as she walked by.

Xander laughed, "No, I would have to use the long way that we're going at the moment, but I knew Dawn's ability to navigate between dimensions is much greater than mine, in fact some of the dimensions we have seen have been realities that Dawn has unknowingly guided us to."

They all blinked.

"I have?" Dawn asked.

Xander nodded, "When we joined powers I saw into you, just as you have seen into me, and you unknowingly sought out a reality that reminded you of things you have seen."

Dawn frowned as she searched her mind.

Lexa blinked. "She's been guiding us to realities that remind her of a SF-series?" she asked in bafflement.

Xander smiled smugly, "We just had to wait for two things. One, we find our home my way, the slow way, or two, Dawn getting skilled enough to take us home the fast way."

Anakin slowly turned and looked at Dawn. "We can go home?" he asked.

Dawn grinned. "I think so."

"I have two angry wives. I better tell them what happened before they take out their anger on you. Besides tomorrow we're going to land the ship and fix it." Oh yes. Oil bath is your new future Dawn. Feel the slime girl, feel it. With a peaceful face he walked out.

Anakin relaxed. At least Xander wasn't angry at them or Dawn.

Lexa swallowed. That was almost the same look in Xander's face that she had on hers when she was plotting evil revenge. Poor Dawn and poor them.

Dawn was thinking that before going home it should be best if they test her ability, perhaps visit the Star Gate guys again.

-KNM-

Inside the cockpit, unknowing about the crazy fun going on in the back of the ship, Riley was fighting a war against sleep as he sat on pilot duty, while the ship was slowly floating closer to a solar system.

Behind him R3 and R6 were analyzing information about the solar system.

It was not an empty system. It had intelligent life on it. The two droids deactivated the active sensors and put the Enterprise into stealth mode. The engine started to warm up and the shield was put on standby and Riley was warned that a potentially hostile situation could occur.

The Force Ranger, a former Special Forces soldier from a version of Earth, sighed as he pulled himself fully awake. A grim smile came to his face as he wondered what they would see next. A short moment he studied his face and his eyes in the reflected image on the window screen. Dark black and shimmering from reflected light, his eyes looked alien to him, even the muscular structure of his face felt strange from the bad mirror image he could see on the window screen.

So much had changed, he thought as he looked out, still in awe that he had found a person like Buffy who actually loved him and a fun girl like Rona as a sister. The two of them had all but adopted each other.

Life was strange indeed.

-KNM-

At the same time in a nearby dimension.

Jack O'Neill, former Colonel and now Jedi Knight (in training), had seen many things in his life, good, bad and to strange, which explained why what he was watching now could only be described as "Sweet."

On the hangar deck the new Air Superior Fighter Mark-1 was landing. The tech guys had used the hull of an old AH-64 Apache helicopter as a starting point. He could see most of the Apache's armor had been removed and replaced by black storm trooper armor or plastic-steel as the tech called it. The weight of plastic-steel was about half what the old armor weighted and gave almost four times as much protection as the best metal armor did.

Even better, plastic-steel had a low radar profile. Radar waves were partly absorbed by the armor, making the SF-Mark1 almost radar invisible.

They had lengthened the short stubby wings on the SF-Mark 1 and removed the old helicopter propeller and installed a rotor engine on the tip of each wing. Most of the lifting ability came from a pair of repulsor engines installed in the craft. The new pair of rotors was just for maneuvers during high speed.

The two GE T90 Turboshaft engines on the top of the wing near the craft's body gave the rotors power. An old Apache had two GE-T700 Turboshaft engines. The pair of GE T90 engines were only half the size of one GE-T700, but with the combination of gravity-compensator and the powerful repulsor engines inside to enhance the abilities of the SF-m1 Turboshaft engines, it could move at a speed of Mach-4, were the old Apache could move only at 293 km/h.

The gravity-compensator stopped the crew from feeling the awesome gravity force when they pulled maximum turns on the SF-m1, turns that according to the pilots were unbelievable.

The armament was equally impressive.

Guns: One experimental Wave-blaster cannon, he had no idea of its maximum power output, and one M230 cannon.

Rockets and missiles.

The greatest danger for the Aircraft was to accidentally end up in orbit or overheating the blaster cannons or worse, having the repulsor and the g-compensator breakdown. Soon to be followed by a dead crew.

Besides him his wife Samantha Carter O'Neill smiled. "I agree. Did you know they're working on a Repulsor Tank so small it can travel through the Star Gate?" she said, smiling at the sight of the awesome SF-m 1. They had some problems with the repulsor engine in the tank. It seemed to break down too often after crossing over from one world to another. Perhaps the different frequencies of gravity broke down the Repulsor coils or something.

Jack nodded, "Sweet." He frowned; he had a feeling someone was thinking of them.

Besides him his wife continued talking about the new space shuttle they were building and how fun the work was as they had taken to look through the Star Wars books and fiction for ideas on how to use the tools they had been given. She looked back at her husband, who had that dreamy I see things you don't look on his face. "What is it?" she asked. It frustrated her that he could see the future, the past and strange places and friends far away when she couldn't even explain it.

Jack smiled. "Amusing times, just amusing times," he said.

Note: Thanks to Inachis and Hawklan for making this fic more readable.

Knight no more Chapter 31

Back to the Xander gang in another dimension, on the planet New Nebraska.

The docking platform was expensive, but thanks to some gold and other valued metals they had gotten from the B-5 universe, they could afford it.

Riley looked around as they exited the docking bay. Outside was a town that totally blew his mind. "It's like the old wild west," he said, but fell silent as an alien and a robot walked by. "Except that they have high-tech."

Xander nodded. "Even robot horses," he said pointing at a group of five robot horses that stood silently outside a building.

"That's stupid. Why build robots as animals?" Buffy huffed.

Riley nodded. "Why indeed?"

Xander laughed. "Why built an astromech like R3 as rolling garbage cans? They just do," he grinned. "Besides, most repulsor and fine maneuvered anti-gravity engines need to be tuned. Rep..." he was interrupted by Buffy.

"Yeah, I know. The repulsor coils need tuning to the frequency of the planet's gravity field. The frequency depends on the planet's gravity acceleration, combined with any nearby high gravity sources. Like moons and stuff," she huffed again. "The more heavy duty and clumsy the repulsor engine and the coils are, the less they are affected," she grinned. "See, I knew."

Jaina nodded. "Good and what happens if you drive around in an un-tuned repulsor craft?"

Buffy grinned, "The engine starts to breakdown. First the coils, then lateral damage in the lumian buffers caused by gravity feedback from the coils."

Willow looked on in awe. Buffy was still an airhead, but somehow whenever something engineering related appeared, she suddenly had a brain. It was spooky.

"Yes and how long does it take before a breakdown happens and how long does it take to tune a repulsor engine?" Xander asked.

Buffy rolled her eyes, "Depends on the planet. High radiation and high temperatures can speed up the breakdown to hours, if the engine remains un-tuned. Also an area, with a high amount of hyper baridium, creates radiation that actually destroys repulsor coils," she grinned. "Tuning an engine depends on whether it's a ship engine, big and clumsy, but almost immune to outside gravity effecting it, or if it's a small precision engine like in a repulsor bike, and how hostile the world is."

Jaina answered her, "Correct. Give us an estimate to adapt a repulsor bike, swoop, sailing barge and repulsor car to this world."

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Unless the radiation levels are high, a repulsor bike an hour, perhaps two, a swoop half an hour, the engine of a sailing barge is almost immune to gravity change and a repulsor car would take about six hours."

Xander nodded. "Going to a totally alien world, if you don't have time for the adapting, a moving vehicle with wheels, tracks or legs like a walker or a horse shaped robot is not a bad idea."

Willow nodded, that made sense. The repulsor engines on the Enterprise or other starships were clumsy compared to other repulsor crafts. "What about swoops? They're small precision craft, yet you say they're easy to adapt."

Buffy rolled her eyes. "That's because the engine in a swoop is like nine times bigger than what the swoop needs."

Willow just said, "Oh." What else could she say?

Xander added, "Like B said. The swoops solve it by using an oversized engine and being extremely light. A swoop is almost totally made up by repulsor engine and a small ion engine combined with steering and a place to ride it on."

They walked forward, ignoring the robot horses that watched them walk by.

-KNM-

Inside the ship

"This sucks," Dawn complained, as she was cleaning the robots oil bath.

Beside her Lexa sat on the floor cleaning the atmospheric scrubber system, a place where dirt always was to be found. "Xander's revenge and it's all you fault," she said, glaring at Dawn.

Dawn swallowed. "Oops. We could refuse and ask the droid to do it."

From the pit of the air docks Anakin's voice interrupted her. "No way. If you do that, Jaina or worse, DANNI might take revenge on us. I'll take Xander's revenge any day." And if he was lucky, he might even forget what he saw in there. No baby brother should see his sister riding a man like that, ever.

Dawn sulked and then kept scrubbing. The punishment was too much.

R6 and R3 beeped as they rolled in and noted that Dawn wasn't good at cleaning the oil bath.

-KNM-

Later in the bath

Anakin was dressed in swim shorts and the two girls in bikini's, as they used the bath to relax.

"That was hard work!" Dawn said.

Lexa answered, "Yeah, good that R3 and R6 saved us. We just have to keep silent about this."

They all nodded.

The two girls grinned as they saw that poor Anakin had trouble not looking at them. He seemed to like what he saw. At least if the small mountain in his shorts was any clue.

Inside Anakin's mind the following thoughts were chasing each other in an endless circle: Must think about something un-sexy, must think about un-sexy stuff, must use the Force to control the lower part of my anatomy.

The girls started to giggle and blush as Anakin sat beside them, blushing. Soon the room was filled with laughter as a full scale water war broke out between the two 15 year old girls and the poor boy.

-KNM-

At the same time outside the Enterprise inside a bar.

"Zach. Look at the bar. The strangers, the tall man and the guy between the two females and look at the skin of one of them has," a blond with wild hair sticking up from the top of his head said.

Zachary Foxx looked up and raised an eyebrow as he activated the vision enhancing ability on his glasses. The tall guy with blond hair looked human until he spotted the guy's eyes. Pitch black eyes, no, just dark as space itself. "Could be cybertech," he mused, but the other man? He was slightly shorter and had gills and while one girl looked normal, the other one, the red skinned one, was not human. "You got my attention Niko. What can you sense from them?" he asked, turning to his friend.

Shane Gooseman nodded. "I go for another cup," he said nodding to the other as he walked over to the bar, so that if a fight started, he would be in a perfect position for a close and personal attack.

Niko nodded and a red haired woman smiled a bit as she touched the star hidden under her robes. As she touched it, the star activated the type-5 cyber implants inside of her body and brain, boosting her natural ability as a Psionic ESP.

She quickly let her mind read the surface thoughts on each, even trying to gain flashes of their past from them, but was surprised. The man with the black eyes did not exist. She got more information from a rock or a robot. Even the things he was dressed in had more psychic imprints than he did.

The man with gills was different. He and the two girls beside him blocked her and even reached out, trying to read HER mind.

The dark skinned girl and the blond haired one had strong natural defenses.

She quickly started to defend herself from their attempt to read her.

She got what she needed. "Zach," she began to say that the strangers were just that, strangers and not criminals, when all hell broke loose.

The man with gills interrupted. "Please stay out of my head," he said in a commanding voice as he put his hand on a weapon like stick.

Goose moved too fast, too quickly. He jumped forward, grabbing the gill man's hand or at least trying to grab it. The dark skinned young girl interrupted him with a kick to his hand.

"No way blondy, attack Xander and you are worm food," she said.

Goose, trained by the best genetic engineers to have superhuman abilities, reacted with superhuman speed. His other hand flew out and grabbed the girl's foot still in the air, just as his own left foot lifted and kicked the gill man in the gut. This close he could see they had armor on them, so he didn't hold back.

Xander was surprised and so focused on the red haired Niko, a real ranger, a Galaxy Ranger, even a star carrying heroine, just like her friends and partners, that he missed Goose's attack. "Gurgle," he squealed out, as the kick send him flying towards where the other ranger was sitting.

Behind him Goose, still holding Rona by the foot, managed to pull the girl down just as he himself started to pull his gun up. Then Buffy attacked, kicking the gun away, only to have a dark skinned man shoot her with a gun.

Goose almost smiled. "Thanks Doc," he said knowing it was Walter 'Doc' Harford who saved him.

The stun effect on the weapon made Buffy see stars. She was shaking off the effect as she heard a voice.

"Galaxy Rangers, put down you weapons. NOW!"

Then Goose saw the red skinned girl looking at him. She looked irritated. With a wave of her hand he was suddenly flying towards Doc.

Danni waved her hand and with a mild Force push send the idiot that hurt Xander flying towards the idiot that hurt Buffy.

"Stand DOWN NOW," Xander voice said, surprising them all.

"I agree. Stand down now. Attacking a Galaxy Ranger is a criminal offense." Zachary Foxx said.

Xander turned towards him and looked the man in the eye. "Your guy attacked us first."

"He was only trying to stop you from drawing a gun or an energy staff," Zachary said, eying the strange handle like thing hanging from the strangers belt.

Xander almost blushed. "Bad habit, resting my hand over the weapon, but I was a bit irritated by your telepath breaking into our minds."

With a growling sound Buffy stood up. "What do you mean stand down?" she asked, walking up to Xander. "That asshole shot me," she said, pointing at the Doc.

As the dark skinned man and Goose slowly stood up, Doc mumbled, "Um something in the lady's voice does make me afraid."

Goose frowned. Something was off with these people.

"Zach, those are not the slavers we are on watch out for. I can guarantee that," Niko said.

Danni watched and then smiled. "Xander, they're good guys. Real heroes," she said. Her own empathic ability clearly showed that, combined with the small memory flashes she had spotted in Niko's mind.

Xander nodded, but kept an eye out on both Buffy and Zach.

Zach did the same as he spoke to Niko: "You sure?" Seeing her nod, he turned to Xander. "Seems we made a mistake, sir," he nodded his head.

Xander answered, "May I offer you a couple of drinks as an apology and a way to perhaps get some information on things?"

Seeing Niko smile and nod, Zach agreed, "Of course. "

Buffy pouted. "Oh alright." No fight and they were in a bar even. Who has ever heard of a Slayer walking into a bar without causing a bar fight? It was breaking tradition, it was. Alright she was now a Force Guardian, but still.

"Hell no, Blondy. You are going down," Rona's voice said. She was humiliated. She was a master of who knows how many arts of fighting and that guy got the drop on her. Because she had underestimated him, sure, but not again.

Xander sighed, "Having hot headed friends is like watching two trains speeding towards each other sometimes."

Niko and Zachary blinked before Zach asked the question. "How so?"

"You can see the catastrophe in advance, but there's not much you can do to stop it," Xander answered.

The two rangers grinned.

Then Rona crashed into the ranger, hands and feet flying as she hit and kicked the man in as many places as she could. As Goose crashed to the floor, he touched his star and activated the type-five implant and suddenly the genetic powers he had were activated, improved by the Implant to an incredible level.

The power to adapt, to mutate himself, shape shift for a short moment in to alternate forms that helped him survive almost anything and to heal in minutes what other needed days for. Suddenly his skin became grey and scaly, he became slightly thinner and faster and he rushed towards Rona just as the girl rushed towards him.

Riley looked at his girlfriend and sighed. "Come with me Willow," he quickly said, helping the girl hide beside Xander.

"That's so unfair," Buffy whined. "Why can Rona have fun, but not me?" she asked, looking at Xander and Zachary.

Xander looked at the ranger. The guy looked almost shocked.

Buffy grumbled, "Hey, it's only fair I kick that guy's butt. He shot me."

Doc, seeing where this where going, spoke up. "A stun shoot, totally harmless, young lady," he said quickly to escape physical pain.

Buffy started with her puppy dog eye routine. "Please, can I go and kick butt?"

Xander sighed.

"No Buffy, we have to get those two to stop fighting or they'll tear the bar apart," Jaina said.

"Buffy, help us get a grab on Rona. Zach, help stop your blond shape shifter," Xander sighed again.

-KNM-

Later

They were sitting at the large table with drinks and some food.

Rona and Goose were talking about the fight they had. He was actually stronger then she was, but not that much stronger or faster. Her skills were superior. She was kicking him around like he was a untrained four year old and only his ability to heal and the strong body he had mutated into had given him any advantage.

"So Galaxy Rangers?" Xander mused. "What I need to know Zach, is where could I get spare parts or alternative parts I can adapt for my ship?"

The two started to talk.

Apparently the Galaxy Rangers were building a new ranger base near a colony research station on the planet New Nebraska. The problem was that the Queen of the Crown was constantly causing problems in the area. After the time when the Queen of the Crown attacked Earth's moon with a hyperspace cable planet busting weapon, leaving a gigantic crater in the moon and threatening to do the same to Earth, the Galaxy Rangers decided they needed more than one home base to operate from.

Therefore Earth had sent their best Ranger team to make sure the colony would remain unharmed.

Buffy sighed as she snuggled up next to Riley. Somehow her Dawn senses were tingling.

-KNM-

Nearby

Anakin felt doom sneaking up on him as the two girls had decided to sneak out and have fun, pulling him along with them.

Well actually Dawn had the idea and somehow got Lexa to agree that it would be fun.

Now the three of them were shopping.

-KNM-

Later

"O good, that's so perfect," Dawn squealed in joy as she watched Anakin, the dress up doll, walk out with the new style they had forced him to try out. She loved cowboys, they were so sexy.

"Sweet ghost of Clint Eastwood, ride me cowboy," Lexa said, drooling. She loved cowboys, they were SO sexy.

Anakin swallowed. That wasn't good, was it? "Whatever you say Dawn," he said pushing his cowboy hat backwards.

The girls squealed.

Anakin looked at his mirror image. Nothing special, was it?

The cowboy hat, as Dawn and Lexa called it, was a water proof hat, pale white with a black band on the outside and a small silver ornament on the band looking like a pair of light sabers? Dawn had it designed somewhere, even before they found the store. It looked like it was made out of leather or a similar material.

The trousers were jeans in wild frontier design pale blue, extra rugged and with a wide belt were you could hang your weapons and pockets which were big and durable.

Then a durable white western shirt, with black red embroidery at the neck and cuffs and around his neck was a Bolo tie. That one Lexa had found for him.

Over the shirt was a black waistcoat that was almost glittering.

The boots looked like a cross between US Army boots and classic cowboy boots. In fact they were a cross between those two types of foot wear, but they where shiny black.

Last came a coat, the design a mix between a duster and a trench coat. It was protected against water and dirt and it was dark grey.

Anakin frowned. Blue, white, black and grey. Well, the bow tie was gold with a green stone in the center and the hat ornament was silver. He hung his lightsaber at the belt and slowly started to smile. He too had had a chance to see some Wild West movies, so he knew what to say: "Well little ladies, are we done?" The John Wayne imitation was bad.

The girls squealed again, grinning like fools and giggling as they agreed.

"Let's check out what other kids our age can do for fun on this planet," Anakin said.

The girls grinned.

-KNM-

At the same time not far away.

"The queen will pay us well for human younglings," a slimy frog like alien named Roak said as he turned to his partner, a slightly rusty android and a cybernetically improved alien. So heavily cybernetically improved that 80 % of the body was robotic and 70 % his brain was computers. He was what some called a cyber zombie, "The moment a group of kids is alone, fire the stun net on them."

His partners nodded.

The Cyber Zombie nodded. "My Psionic power, should I use it?" he asked. Unlike robots, some organics had psionic abilities, even magic abilities and some that looked like Force sensitivity in this reality.

Cybernetics could improve the power of a Psionic talent, but to be a psi you had to be an organic and that's where some sick mad being created the first Cyber zombie. Take a PSI, remove the part of the brain that refuses to cooperate and replace it with a loyal AI-Computer. If you like and can afford it too, then improve the rest of the body, and suddenly you have your own loyal PSI using near-robot. As most of the original person dies in the process, they got nicknamed Cyber Zombies. More machine than man, twisted and loyal.

His frog like master slowly nodded. "Yes do that," he grinned. His Cyber-zombie was a powerful psionic Electro-Kinetic manipulator. Thunder and lightning was his to manipulate.

The last part of their disgusting group was a small, only four and a half feet tall cat like being, a real cat-girl from the species of Miame. While cute and childlike, she was a mistress of deceit and trickery. They used to joke that she knew what truth and honesty were, but she wanted nothing to do with them. "I do my usual routine Roak," she said with a purring voice.

The joke was not that far from the truth. She had a severe case of multiple personality disorder created by her people's military intelligence so that she could fool even a telepath when she pretended to be an innocent person or child that knew nothing. Under the fake personality was her real dominant identity, waiting and hiding.

A telepath trying to read her mind or a empath trying to read her emotions would be tricked by the fake personality. Only a deep mind scan would detect her real personality and memory.

Her head was a snake pit of fake memories and personalities she had created herself and had then had implanted inside of her by a telepath. The military intelligence, in their attempt to make a super spy, had gone too far with her. During the training she had started to hate her own people and when the Queen of the Crown attacked, she betrayed them and gave the Queen military secrets that protected the planet. As her own race was destroyed and her own planet devastated, she walked away.

Four and a half feet is not that much in size, around 125 cm tall, looking like a young teenage human with a cat tail, furry cat ears and a cat like nose on her face. Her talent to trick and fool humans was incredible, but her tiny size hid a lot of strength. A normal Miame had almost the same strength as a normal human. She had gone though a genetic enhancing, making her a super-soldier among her own species. With it came strength around twice that of a normal human male and short burst of speed which enabled her to move at a speed faster than what most humans could see.

Their leader nodded, "You do that Cat. Remember, adults and teenagers are worth most, if you can trick them. Kids are easier to capture, but not worth as much and gets us too much attention," he said using his partner's last fake identity. He looked at her, a cute face, but with cruel and calculating eyes that held no innocence and no humor inside them, only a calculating brutality waiting to erupt.

The cat girl closed her eyes. She seemed to shiver a moment, then she opened her eyes. "Hi," she said with a smile that seemed to fill the dark shadow with sunlight. Her eyes glittered in amusement and innocence, "Did you want to play with me?" she asked.

The slimy frog like being called Roak shivered inside, as he put on a nice smile. "No honey. Why don't you go out there and see if you can find some new friends. Perhaps if you bring them here, we can all play." he said wondering if the cat-girl would find an adult or two, getting them to help her find mom and dad or get a group of children to play with her. He hoped she was going for the adults. They were worth more money.

"Ok.. Yay, new friends," the cat girl said, as she danced away while holding a small ball.

Roak mumbled, "She freaks me out sometimes." His cyber zombie nodded, he too was freaked out by Cat. "Well, let's wait," Roak said.

-KNM-

A bit further away

Anakin felt foolish, but he had fun as he and Dawn went gliding down a metallic slide built for younger children. Because of the giggling and joy filled cries from Dawn and Lexa and the fun he himself was having, being a bit foolish was a small price to pay.

On the other hand it was late afternoon so nobody would see them.

"Dawn," Lexa said, as she sat alone on a seesaw.

Soon the girls were sitting on one side and Anakin on the other as they rocked up and down like young kids on the seesaw.

Giggle and laughter filled the air as a soft voice interrupted them. "Do you want to play with me?"

The three teenagers turned and saw a young cat-girl standing there, holding a little ball between her hands. Her tail twitched behind her in fear or eagerness. Huge yellow eyes were sparking with hopeful innocence and the fear of rejection.

A face only the cruelest, most evil person could reject and Dawn, Lexa and Anakin were hardly evil.

Lexa answered, "Hey little friend. Isn't it not a bit late for you to be outside?"

"Hu no. We are nocturee. Nocturnela. Nocturnal. Dad said. Moms say it's bad for us to be out during day time without sunglasses," the cat girl frowned. "I don't know why," she was silent. "But the sun hurts my eyes," she finished with a smile bright as a sunny day.

"Aaaa," so cute Dawn thought. She could feel the innocence and friendliness radiate from the emotions of the cat-girl. She could also feel loneliness.

"Do you not have any friends to play with?" Anakin asked. "Or your mom and dad?"

The cat girl looked down to the ground. "They have to work and my friends are stupid. They're always sleeping when I want to play or having dinner at home. I'm the only one of my species on this stupid planet," she finished, her tail hanging behind her. "I got nobody to play ball with," she said with tear filled eyes.

"We can play with you for a while. We would love to," Lexa said quickly to stop the cat-girl from crying.

Dawn agreed quickly with a loud, "Yeah."

"Yay, I have new friends!" the cat-girl said. "Let's go over there and play."

Anakin nodded and asked, "Why there?"

The cat-girl shrugged, "Less lights over there that hurts my eyes." She finished with an innocent smile, as she started to walk, almost dance, away.

The teens smiled as they followed the cat-girl. What a cute innocent child, so sad that she had nobody to play with.

Deep inside Cat the cruel soul that was her real self was amused. Soon they would fall into her trap like a fly in a spider's trap.

-KNM-

A short moment later

Dawn and Cat VS Lexa and Anakin, the ball game was going on at full speed. The cat girl was giggling as the older teens amused her, using the Force and Lexa her telekinetic ability to make the ball fly around her head sometimes.

Behind the shrubbery the Cyber Zombie was waiting.

Suddenly the cat-girl fell down, tripping over her own shoe. "Oh. My shoe laces," she whined as she started to tie the shoe together.

Dawn caught the ball in her hand as the gang walked up to the girl.

Lexa wondered, seeing the difficulties the girl had with the shoe laces. "Do you need any help?" she asked.

Cat grinned. "No, I'll get it soon," she said as she kept fighting the shoe, trying to tie the knots correctly. It looked like she was having great difficulties.

As the three teens started to talk to each other, amused, Cat's real personality was activated and she pushed a button on her wrist watch.

Suddenly the ball in Dawn hands exploded with a yellow gas like fog.

Dawn and Lexa, standing next to the gas, were knocked out directly.

Anakin fell down on his knees, his head was spinning as he started to clean the gas from his body.

Then he saw a tall cybernetic monster walk forward. The monster lifted its arm and thunder and lightning came flying out and then all went dark.

Roak croaked out a laugh. "Get them to the ship. We have caught the big catch here," he said. "Thanks to you, Cat."

The cat-girl grinned. "Do you think I could play with them in the ship?" she asked, hoping they could test out some of her new torture equipment. Perhaps removing the skin on part of the boy's face or do it to one of the girls.

Roak answered, "No, not them. Three with psionic powers, they're worth their weight in gold, Cat. We are all going to be rich."

Cat eyes started to glitter with greed and malice. "Oh phooey, next time then."

As his Cyber Zombie loaded them in small coffin like containers Roak started to think. "Cat my friend. I need your opinion."

The cat-girl looking cat-woman turned towards him nodding, "Yes Roak?" Not that any of them were friends. They all needed each other and Roak's ability to stay a hundred steps away from the law and away from bounty hunters while working right under their nose was incredible, almost paranormal. Cat was truly impressed by the slimy being Roak was and for now, they needed each other.

The small group of survivors that was all that was left of her species had put too high a price on her head for her to move alone without protection.

Roak answered, "The Queen of the Crown would give us a good price for these, standard human price money, but Lazarus Slade and Mogul the sorcerer have put a high price out on psionics. Fifty times the price money the queen bitch would give us."

Cat almost twitched. "Those two are as trustworthy as having a death-rattler in your pants."

Roak twitched. Seeing that the coffins were loaded on, he started to walk to the driver's seat "Yes, but if they attack us, we might survive and with the money." He hated death-rattlers, the tiny around a two feet long over aggressive lizards were not the most deadly venom using beings, but they were on the other hand one of the most aggressive beings. Death-rattlers were known to attack innocent beings the size of a human and larger, even hunting them down and with the rattler on its tail playing, it attacked biting again and again, injecting its venom, which caused first great pain, then later big rotting wounds on the flesh and inside the body unless the anti-venom was taken.

Thanks to its ability to sneak inside a starship and then hibernate for weeks at a time, the death-rattler had spread across the galaxy. It was definitive not a being you would trust having inside your pants.

It was named after an Earth snake, if what he read was correct, and he once was bitten by one five times on his left leg. As it was, they were out hunting Death-rattlers and he had with him some of the anti-venom, so no damage except some pain.

"Fifty times is a lot of money," Cat said. "We would risk our own lives if we try it, but the money. Let's do it." She grinned. "No guts, no glory like the rangers says."

The two laughed as they drove their truck to their space ship. 

Disclaimer: The cartoon Galaxy Rangers belongs to whoever owns the rights, which is not me.

Chapter 32

At the Galaxy Rangers HQ

Niko smiled as Commander Walsh glared at them. He wasn't tall, but still a strong man with wide shoulders. Close to 60, he had a physique most 20 year olds would envy. His hair was light brown with spots of white and the side had turned grey. Still, it took a careful study to see the white in his hair or the wrinkles in his face as he moved and talked with a power that made you forget the signs of age.

He was still an impressive person and the look he gave would make a lesser person tremble.

"So, a dimensional traveler?" His years as a warrior law-man and ranger made him a bit paranoid. His burning belief in justice and law had never faltered, even after years of painful experience from war and criminals. It had kept him grounded and willing to give anyone the benefit of a doubt, at least once.

Xander looked amused as the man almost glared at Riley, believing the older man to be the person in charge. The office was large, with two big screens, a holo projector table and a conference table, as well as a sofa that looked well used. The only photos he could see were two pictures, one of the Ranger team and a tiny, almost hidden one of Goose. He could feel the man felt responsible for, proud off and loved the younger man. Like a father would.

Commander Walsh asked again, "Well, are you or are you not?"

Riley looked at him in surprise "Um. Yes, we are from an alternate dimension, Sir." He scratched himself on the top of the head, "I'm Riley and not the one in charge. Xander, that is Jedi Master Xander and Mistress Jaina are the ones I follow. I'm only a Force Ranger myself."

Commander Walsh looked at the man beside Riley and saw an even younger person than Riley. He could see now the way the young man stood, eyes glittering in amusement, dressed in yellow and green armor and self assured, yet in a relaxed position.

This was not a young man, this was a young warrior old before his time.

"I see. Jedi Master Xander, Jedi Mistress Jaina," he looked at them, a bit surprised. He guessed them to be twenty or twenty two years old, maybe. "Your young age did surprise me. Well, Master Xander, Mistress Jaina, is what my trusted Galaxy Ranger Niko said true? Are you from an alternate reality?"

Xander nodded, "It is. We're from an alternate reality and we're on our way back home. Sadly, our ship is in need of repairs and maintenance and we need some spare parts."

A voice from the computer on Walsh's desk spoke, "Their voices and heartbeats indicate that they may speak the truth."

Walsh smiled. "Anything more Celly?" he asked the computer.

Celly spoke, "Yes Commander. The man called Riley is highly above normal human physical shape. "

Riley grinned. "I am," he said simply.

Goose raised an eye brown as he turned to Riley. "What's your story, stranger?"

Riley answered, "Black spice, an illegal drug that is mined on some planets. It infects humans, giving them a perfect physique, an almost super human ability." He scowled. "I was captured by some slavers and forced to work in the spice-mine. Xander and gang saved me," he shivered.

Walter 'Doc' Harford said, "Perfect physique? Where can I get some of that black spice?" he asked with a grin.

Zachary looked grim, "What is the down side of the spice?" He disliked drugs.

Jaina answered him, "Mental side effects, like anger and murderous blood lust, unless the infected gets more Black spice. It is an addiction that lasts for life, unless the person receives the expensive and dangerous cure that removes the need. Each of the poor suckers in the mines breathed air saturated with black spice. They either died of drug overdose or became addicted to it."

Danni nodded, "The cure is extremely dangerous and not many survive. The death statistics among the slaves inside the spice mines are off the scale. If they don't die from the black spice, they end up in a permanent coma nobody can wake them from. It's the slavers that kill the slaves that end up in a coma."

She didn't say that she had found out that most of the dead bodies were used in the food processor units. She knew that wasn't something Riley would like to or needed to learn.

Having lost his smile Doc said, "Ouch, not a good thing then. I hope you have taken the cure, my friend? Psychos with perfect physiques would not be a good idea."

Riley nodded. "Yes, it was a month before I got the cure. It was awful, I spent so much time fighting the rage and had dreams where I murdered my friends. I hated them for saving me and removing me from the spice dust and I was eternally grateful that they did save me at the same time. Black spice is dangerous and the fools that are using it are the worst of drug users. They don't destroy their own body, they hurt others," he said simply.

Xander agreed and said, "As a Jedi Master and former Jedi Knight, I must say that fighting drug smugglers and drug sellers is a war that never ends."

The other rangers nodded in grim agreement.

"So you need spare parts. I'm sure we can help you," Commander Walsh began and was interrupted by Jaina.

"I think we wouldn't care for your help for free. I think we would rather buy and sell things. An exchange of technology and of knowledge for the cost of the help you could offer us would be a better deal. For all of us," she said. They may be lost, but they did have pride and she was sure they could gain more if they gave something away.

Commander Walsh slowly smiled. "Get Q-ball and let's talk. Now you said you were a Jedi Knight. Tell us about that."

Xander smiled as he turned to Willow. "Please Willow, demonstrate some of your skills," he said as Willow showed off by using her telekinetic skill to lift Doc. "A Jedi Knight is a person trained in the Force, a mystical power that is created by life itself, and a Jedi Knight could be said to be a priest, a police man, even a soldier or a judge depending on who you ask and what you ask about," he looked at them as he continued. "We are servants of life and our duty is to protect the living. We can sense the future, the past and even emotions," he let his eyes glide between Walsh and Goose.

Jaina added, "On the world we call home a criminal can demand being judged by a Jedi instead of a judge and jury. So our work is actually a lot like yours," she finished with a smile.

-KNM-

Later in the restaurant

It was a lovely restaurant with a view over a big pool in which dolphins were swimming around. Nice, even if the dolphins seemed to have some technology implant attached to the blow hole. Focusing his eyes, he saw it was a breather, to increase the dolphin's ability to swim under water.

A short moment later he saw a man talking to a dolphin and it answered or rather the implant answered. He was impressed. The implant improved the dolphin's ability to swim under water and gave them the ability to speak with humans.

"I thought he never would quit asking questions and demanding evidence," Willow said in a tired voice.

Xander, leaning back, smiled. "Q-ball or Walsh?" he asked, tearing his eyes away from the dolphins. He liked dolphins.

Willow looked at him. "Both."

"Yes, but I am a bit curios about them," Danni said with a grin.

Xander nodded. "I'm sure they'll explain it to us. They said they would after dinner," he said simply as he continued eating and cuddling in with Danni and Jaina.

Seeing the strangers sitting together Zachary waved his hand. "Come on kids," he said and he and his two kids followed. "Hi, may I and my family sit here?" he asked.

"As long as you let us ask the questions. Now, what are the names of your family members?" Xander said, grinning.

Zachary answered to that. "Jedi Master Xander, may I present Jessica, age 12 and Zachary Junior, age 15, my children. Kids, this is Jedi Master Xander, his wives Jedi Mistress Jaina and Padawan Danni, their Student Willow, Force Guardian Buffy, Force Guardian Rona and last, but not least, Force Ranger Riley," he finished with a grin as the two kids started to ask questions.

Jaina gave him an irritated glare. "Willow, as your teacher I hereby say it's your duty to explain to them what we are. It's a test of your patience and diplomatic ability."

"What? Again? That's unfair," Willow whined.

"Yes, hard is the duty of a student. Now get to it. Learn patience," Xander grinned. Power abuse you are a good friend right now.

The two kids turned like hungry piranhas towards Willow.

Buffy just thought 'Poor Willow' and then hurried over to sit by Riley; it was safer there.

Xander said, "So Galaxy ranger, I saw that each of you seemed to have some powers. Could you explain about that or is it a secret?"

Zachary looked at him. "Our specific powers are secret, but not why we have them." He took a zip of milk before he continued. "All elite rangers have a Type-5 cyber implant," he said as he looked at them. "We're only one of many elite ranger teams using the Type-5 implant. "

"The most important part of the implant is inside the brain. The ranger implant is called type 5. Exactly what it is it and how to build them is a secret. What it does is well known. It improves and boosts the bio-energy created inside the body, making us a bit stronger, faster and harder to hurt. The extra energy is stored inside our star badge and can be used to give us superhuman powers for a short time."

Junior interrupted, "Which power that is depends on the person. Niko can read minds and see the past and also have flashes from the future," he said in awe.

His dad sighed. "Well, you probably have figured out Niko powers. Thanks to Junior," he looked at them. "Mine depends on my bionical half. My body was damaged and then replaced with bio-cybernetic replacements. Thank to Type-5, they can be used as an energy weapon and are able to shoot blasts far stronger than a normal laser gun and they also super-power my strength and durability on one half of my body. "

He then turned to the kids, "Let's try to keep some secrets secret, right?"

"Oh, come of it captain," Niko's voice said as she sat down beside a tired Willow who was trying to explain Slayers, Guardians and other strange things to Jessica. Seeing them argue, Xander turned to watch the dolphin swim.

"They gave us the information, let's explain it to them," Niko finished and stole a carrot from Zachary's food. She turned and spotted Xander looking at the fish thank. She could see both Danni and Jaina had seen the same thing, perhaps.

Zachary was happy for that. He always hated carrots and somehow the kitchen computer always gave him some as snacks. No matter how much he tried to tell the rust bucket he hated them, it ignored every protest and just waved around the doctor's order that he needed whatever good stuff that was inside carrots. Even eating the disgusting carrots he still had to take a shoot of vitamins every week with a doctor complaining he was eating wrong. "Whatever," he sighed. Once Niko had that tone in her voice, there would be no stopping her.

Niko smiled, "Thanks. Goose the blond guy, he is a ex-super soldier, faster and stronger than a normal human. He is the only one that didn't go crazy. His power is incredible. Any attack that he survives can be instantly healed by his Type-Five and it makes him immune to it also. For a short period of time he's completely invulnerable, we've seen him walk through a rain of lasers and fire attacks without a scratch. His power lets him shape shift or form shift into a form that will let him survive. The more extreme the change is or the more dangerous the energy he needs to survive, the shorter the time he can keep it up."

"If I understand it correctly, for him to develop temporary immunity to a blaster bolt, he has to suffer a hit first?" Xander asked.

Zachary nodded. "Yes and when the immunity kicks in, any wounds are healed in seconds. Counting on the fact that the Type-5 still has energy or not. Like a normal battery, it can run out of juice. Unless the wound already killed Goose, he would heal at least that's what the doctors say. Goose isn't invulnerable to damage, just close to it for as long as his bio-energy charge holds up."

Jaina looked and was impressed. "Incredible. What about Doc?"

"He's a surprise. At first they couldn't find his powers. Then it was discovered that he can summon, outside of himself, cyber avatars. He calls them Firefly and Pathfinder. They look like small balls of lights. The real incredible thing is that they can infiltrate almost any computer or robot system to collect information or just reprogram or find code words," Niko grinned. "He's a wizard of information technology." She of course held her tongue about the fact, that some really alien systems or extremely complex and difficult systems were impossible or would take an extremely long time for Doc to take over.

Xander was drooling inside, "So he developed Psionic power Techno emphatic abilities?" The Type-5 implant sounded almost TOO good to be true.

Niko blinked. They were correct, Doc's power did seem psionic in their nature. Like hers, but different.

Xander then looked at Zach. "So who are your enemies?" he asked.

Zachary started to talk. "The Queen of the Crown, who used psycho crystals to steal soul energy from aliens and humans alike to create her loyal slaver-lords and to remain almost immortal, and her army of robots. A monster that has destroyed more than one planet and its life, a bitch that was now after Earth, a monster that had stolen my wife's soul and put it inside a psycho crystal. Somewhere out there a slaver-lord walks around wearing a psycho crystal that has my wife inside it and using her soul as a power source. As long as the body is alive, the psycho crystal can be used. We managed to save her body, but until her soul is found, she will sleep in cryostasis. The Crown Empire is declining and crumbling as we speak. It is still extremely dangerous and she firmly believes that humans are her only hope to regain the glorious power she once had. So far we have defeated all of her attacks. "

Niko nodded, "She is an extremely difficult enemy. One thing that gave us the time to develop a way to fight her was the fact, that she wanted as many human slaves as possible, which made a big scale nuking or orbital strikes impossible for her, lucky for us. "

Zachary added, "She found out that she needs from two up to five aliens to create ONE Slaver-Lord. With humans and a small number of other alien races only one soul for each Slaver-lord is needed."

A grim feeling filled the table.

"That's terrible," Willow squeaked.

Xander nodded, "I agree." He wondered why he suddenly felt like strangling Dawn. "Let's get back to the ship." If Dawn had done anything stupid, R3 and R6 would have said something.

Niko asked, "Why don't you sleep here? We have guest rooms and they are better than any hotel or ship."

Xander grinned. "And privacy," he grinned to his wives.

"Yes, finally we can have wild oral group sex and no one to interrupts us," Danni said, giggling.

Jessica managed to swallow her milk the wrong way and was spraying Niko with milk in shock. Zachary Junior just stared and was soon blushing as red as a Zeltron.

Zachary sighed, "That's was a bit too much information."

Jaina smiled, "Xander and I, we love our red headed wife," she said. "Niko, show us where the room is. We're going to see that we get a good room for tonight"

Xander turned to the others. "After we get a room for all of us, let's meet with Q-ball by the lab and we can get started with the technology trade."

The four left the table, Xander and the girls to find a room and Niko to show it to them and to also clean away the milk.

"Tomorrow after breakfast, why don't I book you onto a guided tour of the dolphin home? I'm sure Goose would love showing you around," Niko said.

Xander grinned, "I would love to, unless my ladies have other ideas." he said, looking hopefully at them.

Jaina and Danni said no. Both were surprised at how deep Xander's longing after water to swim in was. The gills he had on his body did make him amphibious and apparently he did have an unknown psychological need to be in water from time to time.

-KNM-

At the same time inside the Enterprise.

R3 enjoyed the feeling of hot oil boiling away dust and grim stuck inside his mechanics, and beside him R6 was enjoying the weary same feeling. R3 beeped, "I hope the kids do not get in to any trouble."

R6 beeped back, "What kids? Xander's gang or Anakin's gang?"

R3 answered, "Both gangs of kids. Sometimes I get so afraid. Xander and Jaina seem to have a death wish. I do complain and ask him to be careful, but does he listen? No."

"I'm sure they are fine and I know Mistress Jaina sure needs a babysitter. So does the rest of them," R6 answered again.

R3 remembered something and said "beep peep beeb," which was impossible to translate. A droid joke that needed a computer mind to understand and that is for the best.

Soon R6 and R3 were shaking in digital laughter. O those wacky organic were breaking them up.

-KNM-

A long and wonderful day and night later

Xander smiled as he walked out from the room with Danni in the middle and Jaina and him on each side.

He was a bit surprised to see a smiling Riley and Buffy walking out of a room, kissing each other. Sure he knew they were dating, but had he missed that much?

Apparently, because the others didn't seem surprised. Looking back to the last weeks he frowned. Sure, he had talked to Buffy a lot, but it was all about engineering and repairs. Nothing about how she was doing. He remembered, weakly, a memory about Buffy and Riley getting it together, but not much. He had talk to Riley a lot, but that had all been about his duties as a part of the crew, nothing like they used to talk about, fun stuff.

Xander let Danni go and walked up to them. "I'm sorry Buffy and Riley. I've been a bad friend to you both. The last weeks I have been so busy working with Dawn, Willow, the ship, our journey I haven't really talked about important things like what is really going on in your life Buffy and fun things like we used to do back home, Riley."

Riley snorted as he frowned, trying to think back. "What do you know? Hey, no worries Xander, I hadn't the time to talk either. It's been a bit too much, strange and a hard time lately."

Willow came up, followed by Rona. "Hi gang," looking around she asked, "Anything happening?"

Danni rolled her eyes. "They're worried about being bad friends." She was amused, since all of them had become better friends than ever. Even with the crew loosing Chloe as she decided to remain behind in an altered reality. They had turned closer as friends.

She could feel that with most of them although Riley was an unusual enigma for her paranormal abilities. Thankfully, his face was easy to read.

-KNM-

A long breakfast later plans had been made

Xander and Goose would spend some quality time in the dolphin tank and then Xander and Jaina would return to the Enterprise after lunch.

-KNM-

Later inside the pool

"Remember, don't hurt my friends or call them fish," Goose said as he dived into the water, his Type-5 implant activated directly and gave him gills and fins.

Xander dived after him and his gills were finally in their proper element.

It did not take long before the dolphins swam up to them and started to play.

-KNM-

Hours later before lunch

"What kind of Dolphins are they? They look a bit strange, almost like the bottle nosed, but smaller." Xander asked.

Goose was impressed that the guy knew about dolphins. "Neo-Dolphins. Much of Earth was destroyed in a war. Humanity had to move to Mars to survive and they spent decades re-terra-forming Earth into the green paradise world it is today." He was silent for a moment then continued, "Neo-Dolphins are an improved version of the old extinct version you talk about. Humanity discovered that they had telepathic abilities and that they are as smart as we are. About half of them lack the ability to let part of the brain sleep while the other part keeps them from drowning. So half of all Neo-Dolphins are unable to sleep in deep water, and instead, humanity developed the dolphin breath implant that helps them. Many dolphins today work with humans on many colony worlds."

"No we not as smart as human are Goose," a dolphin said.

Goose sighed, "Yes, you are just as smart as humans are. I will not let anybody say anything different."

Xander smiled, "I would have to agree with both of you in this argument. Intelligence comes in different shapes and forms, like creativity, wisdom, mathematic understanding, paranormal ability, even the ability to remember. No two species are exactly the same. All beings have areas they are superior in. Which yours are, is for you to find out. Most humans are brilliant in using and building tools."

-KNM-

After lunch

Danni, Willow and also Buffy had looked at the lab, seeing the computer factories abilities to replicate parts they needed. It was a perfect place for them to build things in.

Riley and Rona had a date with Zachary. They were going to a horse robot stable. Both of them liked horses and wanted to test a mechanical one.

They even got themselves cowboy hats like the rangers already had.

-KNM-

Later again

"I think Lexa, Dawn and Anakin have learned their lesson now," Xander said.

Jaina nodded. "No more interruptions, they have Jedi skills by the dark balls of the Sith. They could easily have used the Force to understand that entering the room was bad for their health," she grumbled.

He nodded, "So let's get them involved with fixing up the ship." He frowned, WHY did he not feel their presence in the ship?

He noticed that Jaina was silent and she looked at him. Irritation and anger was showing in her face.

Zachary, the Galaxy Ranger, who had escorted them in the hope of getting a chance to see the ship and because his kids had whined and bitched that they wanted to see the strange alien ship, noticed their behavior. "What's the situation?" he asked while pushing his kids behind his back.

Xander petted the side of his legs, to make sure the lightsabers were hanging correctly and releasing the safety buttons to make sure they were easy to drawn. Even feeling they where there with the Force was not enough, his old habits made him check it physically.

"The junior gang is not inside or if they are, they are neither awake nor sleeping," he said with a grim voice.

"Unconscious or a coma," Jaina closed her eyes for a second. "Anakin is alive and moving away from the planet at faster than light speed," she said with irritation.

"How can he do that?" asked Jessica.

Zachary Junior added his own question, "And how do you know that?"

"I used the Force to sense my brother," Jaina answered to the last question.

"Hyperdrive is faster than light," Xander said while opening his own eyes. "They are all alive. Am I right?"

Jaina nodded. "The ship is also safe," she filled in.

Xander and Jaina walked in. "R3 and R6" they yelled.

The two Droids rolled up and started to peep and whistle, worried.

Xander groaned as he got the bone of the information. "You let the terrible duo and Anakin out of the ship?"

If the two droids could swallow nervously, they would have, and R6 whined an answer.

Jaina yelled, "I don't care if they were whining and gave you the puppy dog eyes and said the punishment was unfair. WE said they were going to stay on the ship. On THE SHIP, not go for a walk. I don't care, if they said it would be a short one."

Both droids rolled back and looked shameful.

Xander sighed. "We are angry and disappointed with both of you." He shook his head. "I can understand if Dawn had managed to get me or Jaina in trouble. I fully expect that she has managed to create havoc with Anakin and Lexa with her, but that she managed to convince the two of you. The two beings I expected to be mature and responsible enough to say NO. This is disappointing."

The two droids managed, even without a real head, to hang their heads low in shame.

Jaina snorted. "Let's find them fast."

Zachary asked, "What can we expect from them? That Dawn character sounds like trouble."

"That whatever criminal or local trouble you have problems with, Dawn will have guided herself and her friends straight into the jaws of." Xander said, irritated.

"Dawn is an adventurer. She's 15 years old, an extremely good girl. She is a smart and brilliant young Jedi, but she also has a mental disorder which makes her into an optimistic and happy person," Jaina said.

"In other words she tends to see the world through rose tinted glasses. She's almost unable to believe things can end up badly," Xander sighed. "She also has a way of getting others to follow her."

Zachary groaned, "Never heard of that kind of disorder."

Xander answered, "Think of a manic depressed and then switch it. Instead of switching between depressed and maniac energy, think of a person switching between feeling happy and optimistic." He looked at them, "Almost constantly."

"Don't sounds like a real disorder," Jessica said, almost wishing she had it. It sounded fun.

"It is. She tends to forget bad experiences, as they do not really fit inside her happy little world." Jaina said with a sigh. "Other than that, she really is a brilliant person. "

Zachary groaned as he opened the radio link, "Center, check around if any suspected beings and starships have been around the last two days and see if any of them lifted anytime yesterday. We may have a priority kidnapping."

Xander lifted his own com and called the rest of the gang. "We have a situation," he said as he explained what they knew of the situation, which was not much at all.

Jaina said, "Zach, Xander and me are heading out, tracking their movements. Get Niko to us, her powers will be useful. Before we go, let's put on full armor and weapons. Now, get going gang."

His wife nodded as they entered the ship.

Before he knew what he was doing Zachary was calling to Niko, leaving Junior and Jessica behind.

The two droids looked at the strangers and then seemed to shrug a bit. Xander and Jaina did say full armor and weapons.

Calling for the two young stranger's attention the two droids escorted them inside. R3 even swallowed his pride and used his voice modulator to speak English. (Shivering in disgust; it was so illogical and primitive compared to the computer language of astromec droids.)

-KNM-

A short moment later

Xander blinked in surprise.

Before him stood the 12 year old Jessica armed with a light blast west and a Compnor stun gun. Beside her was Zachary Junior with his 15 years, dressed in one of Anakin's reserve battle jump suite and armed with another stun blaster pistol.

"What the sith spit are you two doing?" he asked politely.

Niko, who just arrived, could only agree with the spirit of the question.

"The droids wanted us to arm up" Jessica said, looking confused.

"We can help. Really, I helped dad before," Junior said, ignoring the fact that during those times his dad did all he could to get him to safety.

Xander eyes narrowed as he recalled what he said. "When I said full armor and weapons, I meant Jaina and me, R3 and R6." He sighed, seeing the droids obey him blindly, trying to make up with the mistake they made earlier. "This time it's my mistake." He added, "Guys, I'm not angry with you two. Disappointed yes, but anyone, even you, can and will make mistakes. I know that. This was your mistake and you will make more mistakes as life keeps going on. I firmly believe the two of you are going to make fewer mistakes than I do. Don't go around behaving like mindless cargo lifters, guys," he said lifting the astromec droids spirits.

Then he turned to the Foxx kids, "The guns are Compnor Youth stun guns. It's a stun weapon with the distinction that so far, with many decades of use, nobody has ever died from one and they are still good," he said grinning a bit. "Sure, they are a bit on the light side, bigger and stronger beings and humans tend to just shrug off the stunning, but you could shoot yourself blue and still be unable to permanently hurt even a baby using those guns."

Seeing Niko relax, Xander continued, "Keep the gun and armor. IF you father says it's ok. In life you're always safer armed, then unarmed," he finished. "Those stun guns have almost a cult status where we come from. There are bigger and stronger stun weapons, but no stun weapon is safer than the Compnor stun gun."

Jaina nodded. "Now let's find our young ones," she said and the two Jedi started to use the Force to track down where they had gone.

-KNM-

Later

In an almost hidden spot in the park the tracks almost vanished.

Niko leaned down, using her ability to see the past. Beside her Xander and Jaina did the same.

Walter Doc used a portable sensor to find any DNA or chemical traces in the area.

A short moment later Doc yelled, "I found traces of paralyzing gas and hair from a Miame. This Miame is a person named Cat, former alias Nishiamish, alias Myiisa," he said.

"And what is a Miame and what is Cat's story?" Xander asked.

Doc tipped his hat back, "O' boy she is a nasty piece of work. A Miame looks like a humanoid cat. An adult Miame is about half the size of a normal human, even adult Miame look like young children to us humans. Don't be fooled, though, they're strong. The almost have human strength in their small frame," He looked up from the computer. "The Miame as a race is all, but extinct, there are only some left who live on a small mining colony." He looked around the park, using his sensors as he kept talking.

"The Queen of the Crown destroyed them. A Miame gave her the information she needed to turn off the planetary defensive satellite system by activating the satellites self destructs. Once that was done, the Crown Empire's destroyers and battle ships conquered the planet." His face turned even grimmer, "It was Cat who did that. She is a failed Miame super soldier."

"A super soldier like Goose is?" Xander asked.

Niko answered, "Yes, like Goose, but a failed super soldier."

Jaina shivered, "Damn, destroying her own home world." She frowned. "I get strange mixed up feelings from her."

Niko nodded, "Me too. Kind of a child, a joy filled innocent, and then pure evil or something," she said with a frown.

"In the file it said she was developed to fool telepaths by using a self programmed multi-personality shielding system," Doc said to that.

Xander sighed. "The Bothans, where we come from, have something similar. Even Jedi or Sith and Zeltrons can and are be fooled by that," he said, looking sick. "The methods used are mind washing and mind torture combined with drugs which are needed to develop that kind of multi-personality. It was equal to massive mental torture." The others looked a bit sick.

According to the information he gained, some greedy Bothan spies' voluntarily let themselves suffer that torture just so that they could fool even Jedi and telepaths. Most on the other hand were taken as children, growing up in training camps were only the best survived. If Cat suffered that kind of childhood, he had an understanding why she betrayed her own race.

"And you say they did that to Cat? Sick bastards," Doc growled.

Jaina looked at the ground, trying to sense more, "Any information about who she's running with?"

Doc sighed, "No can do. The information in the computer is scrambled, a virus has deleted it. I only have information about Cat because her file is in a higher priority file. Separate from the rest of the criminals." Looking at a small drip of slime he was scanning. "If I'm correct and I am. It's a Gronak, a toad like humanoid alien. What a strange group. "

Xander sighed. "How long does it take to get the Enterprise flight ready, R3?" he asked in the com.

They waited for a moment.

Xander turned. He did not like the answer, "Nine days if we want to use the engine afterwards. Twenty four hours, if we're planning on buying a new engine."

Jaina was about to speak when they were interrupted.

"Just wait, little buddy, Commander Walsh has cleared us for a mission to help you guys get your friends back safe and sound and we have a star ship. If we hurry, we can be on the way within five hours," Doc said.

Xander was silent as he debated the situation. "Alright, we do it that way."

Doc nodded, "Get back to base then and get your gang a robot-horse," he said.

Jaina blinked. "Robot horse?" she asked.

Xander shrugged. "Why not?"

-KNM-

Later at the stable

A short man showed them around with an eager smile on his lips as he talked about his main interest in life. All around them stood robot horses side by side, short, tall, thick and thin horses and in many different colors.

"The robot horses you see here are only an empty shell, the AI-system is easily removable. If the body is damaged, just remove the memory core and buy a new shell and your friend is up and running again," the man grinned.

"The AI-System used in the Robot Horse is user adapted, making your horse quickly a trusted friend. Loyalty imprinting and friendliness circuitry makes sure the horse is easy to use." Turning around, he pointed at the different types of body shells, "We have the racer models, the big strong beast of burden, even the extra small extreme terrain model and last the all around wilderness work model the Rangers prefer to use."

Xander asked, "How good are they in terrains?"

The man snorted, "They can move better than most humans. The hooves are adaptable. In snow they grow big and wide like a snow shoe, allowing the Robot-horse to walk unhindered. In stony and hard ground the legs fetter and soften the vibration for the riders. In real mountain areas, climbing claws with griping ability extends, giving the horse the ability to climb better than most humans."

He grinned, "Last the ranger model also has a Anti-G jump ability, allowing the horse to jump fifty times the normal length and distance, even do some short distance gliding."

Xander turned to Goose, "What's the truth in what he said?"

Goose grinned, "He embellished the climbing ability on the civilian models. The military or the ranger model can do that. Still, even with that, it's impressive and they can be folded together for easy carrying inside a ship. Folded up, it takes half the space of a normal horse."

Jaina said, "Alright, we'll buy seven horses. We'll take the Ranger model 5000 and saddles with weapon harness."

The man smiled. Of course they would. "What color would you like?" he asked.

Jaina thought a moment about it and then said, "I'd like mine to be grey green."

"Mine should be green with yellow legs and head." Xander grinned.

Danni frowned; it was a difficult choice and then she looked down on her pink armor. Why not go with a winner. "Pink." The nearby rangers almost had a heart attack, no way, a pink horse.

Riley just said, "Black."

Buffy mumbled, "I think brown. My horse should be brown."

"Bright red," Willow said with a grin.

Rona decided and said, "Dark grey."

Goose said to the man, "Get the horses painted and equipped with a new AI system. We're leaving in four hours and nine minutes. Get them ready in three and a half."

The horse master almost had a heart attack. "That's a too short a time." Seeing Goose glare, he swallowed. Oh, that bad boy image made him weak in his knees. He blinked his eyes. "Well, only for you Goose." He sighed. Why were the really cute males always heterosexual? On this frontier world he was most likely the only one doomed to suffer alone.

Goose nodded as they moved out. Even if as he was heterosexual and a ladies' man, he knew the poor guy liked him. Perhaps he could help. Yes, his latest girl-friend had a brother who was gay. Perhaps he could introduce the two to each other. After all, the more gay males around, the more females for the Goose man to enjoy. He gave the man a friendly wolfish smile that made the guy almost swallow.

Zachary frowned. "What was that about, Goose?" he asked.

Goose smiled, "My present girlfriend's brother is gay and he complained he's the only one on the planet. I think I can make him and that guy happy if I introduce them to each other." He grinned. "Playing match maker is kind of fun and I get to keep the ladies all to myself. "

Riley snorted as he said with irony: "Win win situation then." If Dawn, Anakin or Lexa were hurt Hell would seem a fun place to hide in. Somehow he felt that Anakin was the most likely to survive by himself, unless he had to protect the girls. Lexa tended to trust her kinetic shield ability too much and out here the enemy used energy weapons.

Goose nodded, "Makes my heart feel all warm and tingly."

-KNM-

Later

The Galaxy Rangers looked on with amusement as the Enterprise crew loaded up with weapons.

DLT-19 heavy blaster rifle, a bit long and slow in fire rate but sporting Class 7 damage. Rona liked one of those for long distance.

One Byar pistol for all. It was a good gun with class-3 damage during auto fire and the second mode charge up damage class-5.

Then the T-6 Thunderer, an extra heavy blaster pistol with class-6.2 damage. Xander, Buffy and also Riley had taken one. In Riley's case, he had two of them.

The DL-44 heavy blaster pistol class-5 damage was the weapon of choice for Jaina, Danni and Willow.

The Penetrator MB-450 was a small sporting blaster able to fire slow, but powerful blasts equal to the DL-44 in damage. Its high precision and elegant form made it Rona's favorite weapon and she had two of them and lastly a Compnor stun gun. A stun blaster pistol the size of a sporting blaster, but it looked the same as the much bigger DH-17 blaster pistol. They all had one or more of those.

"O-boy, you guys sure prepare for a war," Walter 'Doc' Harford said, seeing the kids round up the armory.

Jaina answered, "It's not the first time we've been attacked or kidnapped. Xander and I ARE Jedi Masters. We do essentially the same work you Rangers do," she said with a grim smile. "And our galaxy has broken down in civil war. For 10 000 years, more or less, the Republic ruled the galaxy and only some minor wars threatened to destroy it. The Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and honesty. Then after a smaller civil war the Jedi order decided to scale down the number of Jedi Knights. Without Jedi around, corruption grew too strong. Betrayal came as a Dark Lord of the Sith arranged for the destruction of the Jedi order and only a handful of the Jedi survived," she turned and watched their faces. "By the time my uncle had defeated the Dark Lord and started to restore the Jedi order, the rebuild Republic had become a twisted evil version of the old one and once again they tried to murder the Jedi Knights. Planets and whole sectors of solar systems withdrew from the dictatorial ways of the Republic and now it's civil war."

Xander added, "We Jedi Knights have ways to mediate diplomatic meetings and help strange aliens understand each other. Also, a properly trained Jedi Knight has no or little interest in greed and that makes us a natural defense against corruptive politicians." He grinned. "The Republic on its prime consisted of billions of planets and millions of alien beings, all trying to work together. Each Senator on the Republic floor represented the interest of hundreds, if not thousands of planets."

Zachary nodded, "Lots of room for personal interest then."

Xander nodded, "The Republic had always been a giant standing on clay feet. We, the Jedi order, were the glue or the stepping stone kept it from toppling over. Without us, it fell faster than you could ever believe. In less than a year the New Republic moved from normal to a dictatorial state."

He sighed, "For you to understand the size of the galaxy I can tell you that when Palpatine, the Dark Lord of the Sith, took over, whole star systems and even some small sectors vanished and the imperial fleet lost them."

Goose asked frowning, "How do you lose a star system?"

Jaina answered smiling, "You remove them from the computer systems on the primary government and information worlds. The number of worlds to keep under control was so big that it worked. A couple of thousand worlds, we don't know exactly how many, were just forgotten and some still remain lost."

Xander said to Zachary "I accidentally gave your kids this weapon. It's a Compnor stun gun. It has a 100 % success rate in being unable to kill any humans. It can put them to sleep and that's it."

Zachary looked at the gun. "Accidentally?" he asked ironically.

Xander nodded, "My droids misunderstood a question and equipped you kids with suitable weapons and armor. That's the weapon they gave them. Considering that you are a Ranger, I felt wrong to remove the weapon. It's a good self-defense weapon, perhaps THE best non lethal weapon in existence."

Jaina nodded, "Many healers and families with small children have one of those. Law men and soldiers often use them as backup weapons," she smiled. "We all have one just in case."

Xander handed it to him and said, "Take it and I'm sorry I goofed up by giving them that as a gift."

Danni nodded, "They were created by the Empire for the Compnor youth groups, an attempt by the Sith Lord to mind wash kids. From what I read, it's kind of like your Hitler on earth. The stun gun was such a success that civilians, the military and police officers started to use them and families with small children that liked to have a self defense weapon nearby without risking the life of the kids loved them."

"Later, after the fall of the Empire, the stun pistol was all that was left and they're still being built as they are SO good at what they do. They have a dirty origin and a glorious history record of no human or humanoid being killed, ever."

Xander studied the last Ranger, a droid or android named Buzzwang. "Hmm," he said and then picked up some things from the ship. "Your builder is that Q-ball, correct?" he asked and the droid just nodded. "Let's go and talk to him," Xander's grin was vicious. The other Rangers frowned and followed.

The last part of their stuff was loaded inside the big Ranger ship. It was an around 60 meter long Ranger-1 cruiser class ship, able to carry up to 80 passengers in an emergency. There was no real luxury inside, but it was well designed.

Xander felt his fingers itching to get a chance to play with the engine of this girl.

Jaina sighed as she leaned to him. "You feel like I do, don't you," she purred. "Just imagine the fun we would have trimming the engine and boosting the power of this baby."

"Oh yeah," Xander said with a grin.

Behind them Goose and Niko blinked, confused. At first, they thought the two were talking about sex.

As the pre flight preparations were done Zachary pushed the activation button and the ship activated and accelerated through the acceleration tunnel and then reached the outer atmosphere at fighting speed. It just kept going up and up into outer space.

As the ship started to move Xander took a look on his watch: five and twenty five minutes. Damn, these Rangers were fast. The twenty five minutes delay had been because of his need to help Buzz to upgrade himself.

Later, as the ship was so far away that it could enter hyperspace, Zachary asked the important question. "Niko, you were sure these new guys would be able to show us where we should go?"

She nodded and turned to watch them.

Jaina smiled, "It's simple. One of the most important skills a Jedi can use is Navigational Sense. We can detect the correct path in space or hyperspace. So, show me how you do the navigation and I can set us on the correct path."

The AI said in a complaining voice, "I don't like this idea."

Zachary looked a long time at Niko before sighing. "Alright, this is how we do it. We let the computer do the work. But if it's broken and we have to calculate a course by ourselves, then we do it like this," he said as he started a long explanation. "And then we push enter." The Ranger blinked as he saw Jaina already pushing in coordinates and then pushing Enter.

The AI whined, "We are going blindly into hyperspace. No, I don't want to die."

And they were off.

The AI said surprised, "Hey, you we are lucky, this course is possible after all."

Niko grinned, seeing Zachary was sulking over the fact that he was being ignored.

Note: As always a big thank you to Inachis and Hawklan for their help.

Chapter 33

At a different place and planet

Waking up after being drugged, electrocuted and then tied up with half a ton drugs still pumping through your blood veins is enough to make most people panic, but panic was not the first thing on Anakin's mind as he came partially awake.

No, it was 'Finally.' As he started to relax the second thing on his mind was his worry about the terrible two aka Dawn and Lexa and about finding a way to save them and himself.

Only after that did he start to worry about himself.

Being kidnapped was not that unusual, growing up as a Solo with the blood of a Skywalker in him. Anakin's first kidnapping happened when he was two years old, although it has almost been a year before. Before the age of 15 he had experienced being captured, kidnapped and thrown inside dungeons so often that he almost unconsciously looked at it as something that was expected to happen once or twice a year or so. He even graded the kidnapper over quality and performance. Not being kidnapped or captured for more than a year had actually made him nervous. It felt like something bad was sneaking around behind his back, but now things were back to normal again.

That was the life of Anakin Solo. Among the crew of Enterprise he sometimes considered himself to be the quintessential normal young Jedi.

Now getting out of the coffins was a whole different kettle of fish. He could see that they had relaxing drugs pumping inside and helping to keep their blood flowing inside the cold and low atmosphere of the coffin, which in turn kept them sleeping in a suspended state almost between life and death.

Heart sensors were monitoring the state of his body and raised or lowered the inside temperature as needed. His heartbeat was very low. This was an impressive case of drug and temperature introduced hibernation. Based on the feeling he had, he was slipping in and out of sleep.

If this was correct, Anakin thought, the analysis he had done of the situation could have taken hours to finish, because his body and mind were working far slower than normal. Frowning, he slowly pondered the situation.

Without the drugs he would die in such a cold temperature.

Could he increase the temperature without setting of an alarm or making the freezing circuits further decrease the temperature?

That was a good question.

The light of the sensors inside the coffin gave him just enough illumination to see the lid from the inside. The outside was warm, this he could feel with the Force. Dawn and Lexa were there, in a similar state as he.

He would try one change.

Focusing his skills in Force push, Anakin let the power rip free and pushed the lid away as he used the Force to push himself out of the coffin.

As he landed with a crash head first on the floor, he activated a Healing trance and removed the needle injecting him with the drug.

"uu." The warmth felt almost burning to his deeply frozen body.

As the drugs were burned away, he suddenly fainted because of the drastic difference in temperature inside and outside of his body. Only his healing ability kept him alive.

Standing only feet away from his head, Cat looked on with surprise, a laser gun in her little hand. She turned to her 'friend' and looked at him with surprise. "That was a surprising and depressing escape attempt."

Roak, the slimy frog like leader of the gang, roared out in laughter, "I would say impressive and surprising. Let's fix the coffin and put him back inside." He snorted.

So close to escape and yet so far away, if Anakin could have groaned out in irritation, he would have.

But soon he was back in the coffin, sleeping.

"Indeed impressive," a tall man with cybernetic implants said, "He must have some kind of body enchantment or psionic ability to improve his own body functions."

Roak said to this, "I thought you would like them sir." Carefully he continued, "All three of them showed the ability to levitate a ball and the boy was resilient against gas and electric attacks. So, if you just pay me, we can leave you alone. Even hunt down something more for your experiments." He was hoping not to awaken the deadliness inside this human looking death-rattler. Not that Lazarus Slade was human. He looked like one, but not a drip of human blood floated inside his body, if he even had any blood to begin with.

Lazarus turned and watched them. The Cyber-zombie he recognized. It was built by one of his minions on his order for Roak to use and, unknown to Roak, the Cyber-zombie's real loyalty was not to Roak, but was to Lazarus. "Of course my friends" he said, smiling, while giving the Cyber-zombie an order using the com-link he had build inside himself.

Without a warning the Cyber-zombie attacked. Wave after wave of electric shock waves hit the cat-girl while Lazarus pulled out a big laser gun, aiming it at Roak. "I suggest you surrender now," he said coldly.

Suddenly Cat felt pain as she was electrocuted. Her super soldier improvements allowed her to survive, but not remain conscious as the world grew dark around her.

Roak looked at what was happening in confusion and then terror. "I see. Can I make a deal that ensures I will survive at least?" he said, cursing his bad luck.

Lazarus smiled. "Why of course, my dear friend. You and your loyal Cyber-Zombie may leave. But remember, you both work for me. If you try to betray me, he will keep you in line," he said, grinning.

All Roak could do was keep his anger and hate under control as his own Cyber-zombie escorted him outside to his ship. The moment he could, he would destroy the cybernetic combination of spare parts and escape and never make a deal with Lazarus again.

Inside, Lazarus gave some robots an order and Cat was lifted inside a coffin.

"Let the experiment begin," he said as the coffins was carried inside the operation room.

-KNM-

A short time later

The fog vanished from her mind as Cat looked around. She found herself tied up nude, inside a test tube like glass coffin with no lid on. The tube was firmly attached to a strange ominous looking machine, which it crept her out. Slightly behind her she could see the girl Lexa tied up, equally nude, on an operation table. They where shaving the girl's head; that didn't look good.

"I see you have awakened, my kitten," Lazarus Slade said.

"What are you going to do to me?" she asked.

The mad scientist smiled a smile filled with madness and pure evil. "Give you a lot of younger sisters, my dear. This machine is a perfect mix of science and magic which Mogul the Sorcerer helped me create. With a push of a button I can create clones of you. The sad part is the older I make the clone, the older YOU will become, my kitten," he grinned evilly at her.

Cat swallowed. There had to be a way she could save herself. Lazarus Slade was one of the greatest scientists in the galaxy, but he also suffered from a superiority complex. With her voice purring, she said, "So, you planned for your own little army of super-cat girls? That worked out o so well for my home world." The smile she gave him was just as mad as his.

Lazarus almost laughed in her face. "I know, my dear. I know all about that. The loyalty imprinting started directly as you where forced into the program at 15. At 18 the Miame military decided to use the anti-Telepath program on you," he grinned, even more evil.

"What they did not know is that I developed that program and the scientists who paid me a fortune for it had no idea that I had included factors that would make everyone it was used on eventually turn on their own home planet. I even implanted the idea of giving the Queen of Crown the code to the dense system." He laughed at the look on her face. "Your home world army and planetary defense was too strong for the Queen of Crown, so she needed a saboteur on the inside. I expected it to take years or even decades and hundreds of super soldiers to go rogue before one would manage to give us what we needed and yet you, the first created by my program, did it all in less than five years."

Inside of Cat anger roared, but honestly, any ability to like her own home planet and species had been removed during the Anti-telepathy program. Only hatred towards the scientist who did it was left and the urge to destroy everything they had cared about. Now Lazarus Slade was on the top of and only one alive on that otherwise very much dead list of Miame scientists. "I see. What are you going to do?" she asked.

Lazarus smiled. In a way, he was proud of what she had done. She was one of his most perfect creations. At least her programming was. Perhaps she deserved to know before she died. "Miame brains are easy to program. The machine is going to copy you. Anything inside of you will also be copied, including the super soldier treatment AND cybernetics inside of you. The mind on the other hand will be like yours is now. With some modifications I will put in place, such as total loyalty to the person who I choose instead of your own race, loyal to me in other words. I'm going to separate the memories that are copied to the clones. Most of the memories will be deleted, only physical skills will remain," he said, preening like a rooster.

"You said I would age as much as the clone would?" Cat asked, worried.

Lazarus answered, "Clones, not a clone. You are 29 years old. A Miame could live to become up to 110 years old, with luck. Your body matures and is adult at the age of 18, so to make it easier for me to further improve and mutate the clone. I'm going to make them 14 years old to begin with. That way, I can use some other mutagen to make them into true monster warriors. It's easier to mutate them if they are not completely adult. I'm going to make five clones from you. I don't think your body will handle the stress of rapid aging for more than four clones in any case."

"So, if you're lucky, you'll get five from me," Cat said with dread.

Lazarus nodded and spoke, "Correct and you will age 70 years in only one hour as a result, the miracle of science and magic."

Cat swallowed. She had to find a way out of here. The man's pride was too great. She had no weapons on her, but her computer link up was working and the AI inside was listening and waiting. The problem was that as long as he was focused on her, she couldn't use it. "What are you going to do to the kids?"

Lazarus smiled. "Trying to delay your final destiny? I understand you. The girl called Lexa is a PSIONIC and I'm using my very own copied version of TYPE-Five implant. The same the Galaxy Rangers are using, just with loyalty imprinting. She will be a loyal super powered weapon," he grinned. "The other two have a power not completely unlike magic or psionic, but it is still different. I have heard about beings using that type of powers. Before I do anything to them, I will have to read up on the facts. Eventually, they too will be loyal super weapons serving me," he said with the absolute knowledge that he was unbeatable, conveniently ignoring the number of times the Rangers had bested him and the fact that he had had to run for his life as the Queen killed his robot double. "Now, less talk and more cloning."

As the machine started to warm up, Cat felt a hate stronger than she ever felt before and then her whole body felt like it was filled with liquid fire and all she could do was twitch in pain.

Leaning her head to the side, she saw the first clone grow in a tube beside her. One year old, two years old, five, six, each time it aged, her body was filled with pain. Again and again it aged until it looked like a small Miame teenager. Seeing it, something struck her: it did NOT look identical to her.

It looked similar in face and body, like a cousin or a daughter might look, but not identical. For one, the clone was larger than she had been at the supposed age. Then the reason struck her. She was a teenager when they put her through the super-soldier treatment. The clone was BORN as a super-soldier and had mutated from the start into a more perfect form then the treatment had been able to do with her.

As she realized that, robots lifted the clone out and put it inside a machine.

With terror she saw the clone being mutated, growing to twice the size of a normal Miame. A hideous lion like female more than twice her size and with a head larger than most humans'.

Lazarus Slade looked a bit irritated. "Its readings are not as good as they should be. I don't understand it. I adapted it after your genetic matrix. Why is the mutated clone not as good as it should be?" He shrugged. "Must be the super-soldier treatment interfering."

Cat snorted, indeed it was. The clone was different from her and that was the one thing Slade had not counted on.

Then the pain started again as next clone was created and again, and again.

Behind her she saw, between her pain filled screams, how the operation on Lexa had started and she could do nothing, as her body was aging.

-KNM-

Less than an hour later

Lazarus looked at Cat. She was wrinkly and filled with age spots. The rapid aging had made her loose most of her fur, but she was alive. "I'm surprised that you're still alive. The readings say your physical age is now 95 years old, not 99. You have aged 70 years in an hour and survived. I think I could even make one more clone from you."

The super-soldier improvement must have included some self healing ability that had slowed down the rapid aging she had had to suffer somewhat. He studied the readings further or perhaps not. The odds that she would survive the last cloning were less than 25 % and if she died before the clone was done, the clone would also die. "Perhaps not. I'll get the robot to clean up later. I'm quite tired now." Inside he was fuming a bit, the monster mutated Miame had not become as strong as they should have. Something was wrong and it could not be wrong. He had adjusted the mutation according to Cat's DNA, so what had interfered with the mutation?

Then he left her alone.

Inside, a tired old Miame who refused to die before she had a chance for revenge of some kind, opened her eyes. "Snake, activate computer link," she said and a computer link, a small rope like wire no thicker than a hair, was pushed out from her arm.

"Computer link activated, seeking computer up-link, computer up-link found," the AI informed her as the thin wire stretched out and connected with the computer inside the room. "How are you mistress, you look a hundred years old or more?" it asked.

Cat snorted, "Not good and feeling older. What about your status? Did the copying copy even you?"

Snake answered, "It copied my physical hardware. My program is advanced enough for me to make sure I would only be copied if I allowed myself to be copied."

Cat nodded. Good.

Then the world vanished as Snake and she joined forces in cyberspace, hacking their way inside the computer.

It took far longer then she expected. Six hours of work and she could hear the robots were preparing to remove her body. Her avatar looked like she used to be, young, beautiful and full of life and not the dying old crone inside the cloning chamber.

The first thing she did was to cancel the robots' orders to remove and destroy her and clean up the room. They stopped moving her and put her back inside.

The second thing was to take a look at Lexa's programming. The hardware cybernetic implants were already installed, but the loyalty program was only 50 % finished.

She quickly deleted and changed the parameters of the loyalty program, making the computer believe the installation had been finished. At least that way Lexa would still have her own memory. She would be loyal to Lazarus, though, unless she had the mental strength to overcome the programmed loyalty before Lazarus discovered she had been programmed the wrong way and corrected it.

As the computer thought that Lexa was ready, it moved her to an upstairs recovery room near Lazarus.

Now Anakin and Dawn, they were in a deep sleep until Lazarus had decided what to do and figured out how to do it.

She quickly ordered the robots to put them in the recovery room. According to the computer, it would take 8 hours for them to fully recover from the deep sleep.

Damn. She wouldn't be able to hold out that long, would she?

A crazy idea came to her.

She programmed it into the computer and then she logged out.

"Snake, make a programmed copy of you and put it in the new clone," she said. The robots where waiting. There wasn't a chance that she could survive this.

"Activate cloning machine. One clone, age 14, insert program 'Cat's last wish: save Dawn and Anakin' inside the clone and start cloning."

Lazarus was too powerful for her clone to kill, but at least she could save the kids. Even a small revenge was still revenge and at least she would have done one good deed in her life. The young clone with only a fraction of her own childhood memories and all of her skills would be a new chance, a new beginning, perhaps for redemption, perhaps for something other than that and then the pain started again.

Cat aged, as the clone started to grow. A Miame often reached 110 years of age, but suddenly aging up to 109 in her weakened condition was too much for her. Only her super-soldier treatment kept her alive as the clone was carried away to the recovery room. Cat closed her eyes. She looked more like a skeleton then a Miame now. Her bones were crippled by age and her mind was failing her and as her eyes finally closed, her heart stopped beating.

Only moments later the robots carried her body to the furnace to be forever burned away. The traitor to her whole species was dead, leaving only her last weapon of revenge and betrayal behind her.

Nearby in the lower recovery room, a lone cloned cat-girl slept side by side with Anakin and Dawn, both stuffed under a heat blanket as their bodies recovered from being deep frozen.

Above them, Lexa slept a worried sleep. Strange new ideas were rushing through her mind, to trust Lazarus, to obey Lazarus.

Now the game of waiting had started.

-

Note: If you like my crew and story, you might want to check out Darkness Falls from Razial here on this page. My crew starts to appears in Ch 9 of that nice Star Wars tale.

Note: As always a big thank you to Inachis and Hawklan for their help.

Chapter 34

The ranger ship landed in a cliff like they always seemed to do and the gang began off loading.

Zachary Foxx was checking up his Cyber steed or robot-horse; even if the journey had been calm, it was worth double checking. Sometimes the computer core would get lose and that was bad. The body of the steed was just a shell for the AI computer core after all. "So how was the journey for you Brutus?" he asked the pale golden robot horse in front of him.

The horse nodded, seemingly to check for any hidden damage before it answered, "Acceptable."

Foxx smiled, "That's good." Brutus was an old shell model for an older AI model. He liked it. The 3000 ranger model was not as smart or talkative as some of the others were, but it was build like an armored tank. More like a heavy cargo steed than a ranger model outback rider.

Not many rangers liked the 3000 and it was an acquired taste to ride one. The shock absorbers on the 3000 were lacking compared to the other models and it had a tendency to go through bushes and other small objects instead of around them. Because half his own body was bio-implant Zachary felt no problems or pain in his body the way a normal human would have when bouncing around on a hard saddle at the 180 km/h speeds the robot horse could do. That was the maximum speed for up to 3 hours, then the internal heat exchanger would begin to overload. Racing models could run much faster, but not for long. Combat models could run for a longer time, but at much slower speeds. The ranger version was a great compromise.

The 3000 was the slowest of the Ranger models. The 4000 could run at speeds up to 200 km/h and it could keep it up for 3 hours, just like the 3000. The 5000 had the same speed capability as the 4000, but it's heat exchangers were designed even better, with a secondary oil cooler that gave it the ability to run for up to 4 hours at maximum speed before it needed to cool down.

Beside him Triton, a pale silver robot horse which was Goose's cyber steed, greeted his rider. "I do hope I'm not ending up in parts again."

Shane Gooseman smirked, "Well, can't promise that. We're going after Lazarus Slade."

The robot horse blinked, "Again? I thought he was dead."

Goose nodded, "He is or at least he was. The queen killed him herself, but it seems someone is using his headquarters."

The horse seemed to ponder that before answering, "You think it's a copy-cat?"

Goose answered, "What I think is this: how hard would it be for a genius like Laz to create a body double and then sneak away like the worm he is?"

The horse nodded. The two had the best interface between rider and steed among them. The AI personality bonding matrix had adapted above and beyond the expected normal levels of adaptability.

Walter Doc Hartford snorted. "No way, if the queen kills you, then you are dead. It's more likely a new criminal who's trying to impress," he said as he jumped up on Voyager, a blue horse normally belonging to Niko. The two often changed horses, since Niko's PSI ability interfered with the bonding program of the Cybersteeds for some reason. Walter's Techno PSI ability gave him the ability to work well with any computer or robot and so he'd let her ride his Mel, a tan colored robot horse, while he fixed the bonding program on hers. Thanks to this the two horses where interchangeable between the two, but they liked Doc Walter best. Even then something had caused permanent damage in Voyager and she never could get Walter Doc Hartford's name right. It was always Wally, Harty or Duck. Walter found this both irritating and fascinating somehow. Niko's ability had given the AI bugs in the program.

"Hi Duck," Voyager greeted him.

With a sigh Doc said, "It's Doc, my friend. Try it again."

Voyager nodded, "Sure will, Duck." The robot wondered what was wrong. The name of its current rider was Wally Duck Hart or was it Wally Duch Ford? Whatever.

As Niko sat up on Doc's real horse Mal, she said, "You're never going to get that bug out."

Both Voyager and Mel were the trusted 4000 outback rider ranger models.

"Quit the jabbering. I'd like to see how the new guys handle their horses," Zachary said to them.

The Jedi Knights and the guardians and force guardian walked out, dressed in their body armor with weapons hanging from every part of their body.

First came Xander in his weird armor. A body glove armor which was black in the front and dark green in the back with yellow on the inside of the arms. Over that, a shell armor that was dark yellow green and a battle helmet in dark green. Behind him a black cloak seemingly moved by itself. On anybody other than him it would have looked ridiculous.

Beside him on the right walked Jaina. Her armor was a dark grey black in color. Her helmet was a different design, similar to the helmet of a roman soldier, but with a transparent steel glass protecting her face. Other than that the design was the same as Xander's. Between them walked Danni, her armor was bright pink, even her weapons had their stocks painted a happy pink. She somehow made it look sexy, not stupid. Her helmet had a visor that could open to show her whole face.

Behind them was Rona. Her armor was camouflage colored. The helmet was a simple design borrowing ideas from the Stormtrooper armor. It was somewhat boring compared to that of Xander and his wives.

After her came Buffy and Riley. Buffy's armor was a happy mix between happy yellow and sexy red. Like Xander and Riley, her helmet design had borrowed the idea from the Mandalorians. Riley had a simple armor in bounty hunter design which had borrowed many ideas from Bobba Fett in the helmet design. His armor was camouflaged. He often repainted it using quick color to adapt it to whatever planet they were on. Currently it was sand grey.

Willow, walking last, looked a bit lost with her armor on her. It was bright red, showing of more form than the girl's body had in reality, and if you could see her face, it would have been blushed the same red as the armor. Her helmet was a simple design, looking more like a motorcycle helmet than a SF helmet.

"What the hell?" a Grey green cybersteed said as it looked at their riders.

A robot steed looked at his own body, painted in green with yellow legs and head. Then it looked at the yellow and green armored being. "I think I know who my rider is."

The pink horse felt a mix between horror and suicidal shame. She was PINK, damn it. Now, seeing the riders coming, no gliding, along the ground, she relished the idea. Here was a rider that used sex to confuse the opponent. Naturally such a rider needed a matching horse. Maybe she could convince Danni to repaint her. "I hope she repaints me red. I don't like pink," she whined.

The bright red horse beside her sighed, "And red is so much better."

-KNM-

A short moment later

The Jedi were on their horses and riding north at full speed. It was a desolated landscape with gnarly old trees growing out of the barren dust. If only they could have landed closer, but the automatic defense system would have made them crash the ship, if they tried.

Hours later Zachary stopped them. "Let's take a 40 minutes rest. We're almost there now and it's not smart riding into combat dead tired."

Xander nodded, "I agree. It's not." He sighed, as a Jedi he could ride hours and still be fresh for the fight, but taking 40 minutes to rest so that he and Zachary together with Riley could go over the tactical information about the enemy wasn't a bad idea. He knew Lexa was in pain and in grave danger and he also knew he could do nothing about it. It was humiliating and it made him angry. Yet he had a strange enough a feeling that while it would be bad, it all would end well.

Zachary pulled up a Holographic printout of the stronghold. "Originally it was a Queen of Crown slaver lord's stronghold. Standard, it has fifty Crown space fighters and a parking slot for one crown destroyer. In an emergency it can hold one Destroyer inside and a second one parked outside. Lazarus Slade liked to rebuild though and who knows what we find inside of it now? Normally it has a crew of a hundred robots and perhaps twenty slaver lords."

Xander studied the picture. The building looked more like a tower than a fortress, but he couldn't disagree with its defensive potential. Rebuilt as this one was, it would be interesting as well as difficult to enter it. Unless... "We're going to sneak inside and let Doc open the doors, using his machine empathy," he said.

Zachary nodded. "As long as we distract or destroy the robots, Doc can get us inside and machine empathy? Nice new description, we call it computer magic," he grinned.

Xander shrugged. "From what you told me, it reminds me of how a PSI telepath uses her power. Except in Doc's case he does it to machines, using energy avatars he creates himself as a go-between."

Riley added, "I think we should move in one team here. A focused attack and entry from one direction." He looked at Xander, who nodded. "Watch Xander," Riley said.

And suddenly Xander vanished.

Doc stuttered, "My god, I can't see him and my sensors can't pick him up."

There was a shivering in the air and Xander was visible again. "One of the greater powers of the Force is the Force cloak, but for some reason it's impossible to attack anybody while under the cloak."

He frowned. "I'm powerful enough to cloak a whole starship by myself. So this group should be no problem. Once we're close Doc has to un-cloak and attack the computer system."

Zachary thought, 'Yet another reason why these young Jedi are dangerous' "Then we do it that way. Cloak and ride right into the fortress," he said, "Now let's eat and rest."

The last and most junior of the Galaxy Rangers, Buzzwang or Buzz, had been uncomfortably silent lately. He was impressed by the veritable armory of different powers these strangers had and the poor android felt a bit intimidated. Especially as the blond, named Buffy, was looking at him.

Buzzwang was the only robotic Galaxy Ranger that existed. He had been a gopher and mechanic aid to Q-ball and the Rangers for years, always dreaming and even trying to become a Ranger, but his status as an android had constantly been in the way. Then, after something of a misadventure, he had proven his meddle and the Rangers had accepted him as one of their own. And now a super powered Force Guardian was staring at him. "Can I help you, Miss?" he asked.

Buffy kept looking at the blue white painted Galaxy Ranger robot or android. "Call me Buffy. Buzzy right?"

Buzzwang answered, "Oh' no Miss. I'm Buzzwang, you can call me Buzz, if you like. Can I help you, Miss? You seem to be staring at me."

Buffy blushed a bit. "Sorry, it's just I'm trying to figure out what powers you have. The others all seem to have a power, but what do you have? Is it cool?" she asked, curious.

The rest of the Enterprise crew turned to listen.

Goose grinned slightly.

Buzz said, "Power? Oh my, I do not have any special powers. I'm well build and quite strong, if I do say so myself. Aside from superior computer capacity, I do not think I have any powers. Thanks to Xander's gifts to Q-ball, I now have an advanced holosystem, called a doublers projector, that creates a holographic copy of me and any picture I choose to project up to 10 meters in any direction and they also installed a gas canister stored inside my interior storage area, a gas defense module."

The gas defense module was a odd thing, a gizmo both R3 and R6 had. It could be used as a fire extinguisher or as an anti energy weapon mist. Every meter of mist cut the energy inside an energy beam in half. The projector could, in less than four seconds, create a mist with a five meter radius. In an area with lots of wind though, it was useless. In corridors and other areas with no wind, its range increased as the mist stayed up and in place longer. Both Q-ball and Buzzwang had been quite impressed by it.

Buffy sulked. "Oh that's cool, I guess. Would be cool if you had super robot powers," she said.

Buzz could only agree on that. It then clicked. "But I do have Miss Buffy. Thanks to my body armor and the ability to save a copy of myself in a special computer black box, I am virtually indestructible. The body I have is extremely durable and even if the body is destroyed, I can easily be repaired as long as my computer core is secure inside the black box. Combine that with my special information gathering powers and I'm a walking library of knowledge and skills that can mean the difference between life and death."

Willow blinked, Buffy blinked and then the two girls looked at each other, then at Buzz before Buffy spoke up. "You are a Galaxy Ranger version of Giles," she said, smiling a bit.

Goose blinked, "What is a Giles?"

Xander answered, "In one reality most of us have been to there were beings from sub-dimensions, beings that could most easily be described as demons and vampires. The demons and vampires were extremely hostile to the point of murdering humans for fun and food. The difficult part in fighting them was finding out how to hurt or kill them. Some demons had to be decapitated, others could only be destroyed during a full moon and almost all demons were like that. Difficult to hurt or kill, some even nearly indestructible unless you knew its weakness. Giles was a leader of a group of young hunters who protected humans. He was an expert, a walking library who knew all the weaknesses of the different demon species."

Walter moaned, "Oh my, that doesn't sound like a reality I would like to visit."

Xander shrugged. "For a while it felt like home," he said simply, ignoring the fact that it HAD been his home. It was too difficult to explain that he, Buffy, Willow and Dawn were from a different version of reality than Jaina and Danni and that Lexa, his sister, was from yet another reality.

Buffy, Willow, even Riley and Rona, started to giggle at what he said. All of them also agreed that for a while, that reality had been like home.

Jaina grinned a bit. That was a perfect Jedi Master twisting the truth answer. "It's time to move out," she said.

Zachary nodded and said, "Get on the horses."

Xander nodded, "Stay around me. Don't ride too far away from me and you'll be fine."

As they gathered around him he created a big force cloak, making the whole group invisible. "Let's go," he said.

Zachary frowned. "We don't look invisible," he complained.

Jaina answered him, "You are to anyone outside the field. It's difficult to explain. Even IF they enter the area, they will not see us. "

Goose grinned, "Let's just test this invisibility then."

With that the group started to move.

-KNM-

A short time later

They rode right by the automatic spy drones, the patrolling robots and guards and also right by the automatic laser defense system without being noticed. Goose discovered that even though he tried, he could not place or throw a bomb at the laser cannons. Not while cloaked.

"We figured it out. It's because we use the force of life to make us invisible, meaning that we unknowingly make a deal with life itself. The deal simply states that as long as we and those we make invisible remain so, we cannot use that fact to attack anyone," Jaina said, smiling. "At least I think so."

Finally they were at the gate. "Alright, Doc do your magic," Zachary said.

"Step back and let the Doc operate," Walter Doc Hartford said as he stepped out from the invisibility field.

He opened the small computer he used to improve his power and activated his implant with the badge. Then there where his avatars, although not all of them, just Pathfinder, Tripwire, Tweeker and also Microbite. "Go and get them, guys, and Microbite, remember that you aren't completely programmed yet." Looking like four small stars the avatars flew right into the wall and inside the computer. Each could decode, debug and reprogram almost any computer. They did seem to have some specialties he couldn't explain. Pathfinder was good at breaking security codes and Tweeker was good at reprogramming other computers. Miner was the one that was fastest at downloading information and one of the avatars he used most on big computers. Microbite, hmm, he hadn't found his or its specialty yet.

Each of these avatars was the fruit of hours of programming he had done while meditating and trying to focus his type-five implant.

Xander looked on, interested in how the avatars entered the buildings computer system. "It's a psionic power. He focuses the abilities into the cyber avatars, which work as a translator between the computer and himself. I would bet each of the avatars have special abilities," he said in awe. For some reason Doc's power reminded him of a PSI telepath's power, just like the one Jessica Harris had.

Lexa, mom and dad had told him quite a bit about telepaths and even that machine-telepaths do exist. Not really what they did or how they did it, just that their powers reminded him of how telepaths worked, except with a machines.

Walter did look to be one, even if he used avatars as a way to make his reach longer and able to work independently and on their own. The avatars seemed to appear from Walters's body when he summoned them and from a small pocket computer where he stored the Avatars. That way he made his ability to use his power more effective, as the avatars are already summoned and ready for action.

Goose turned to Doc. "Doc, do your little friends have different specialties?" he asked.

Doc nodded. "Yes, they do. I haven't yet been able to find out what Microbite's specialties are," he said. "All the little guy does is distract or make computers argue."

Xander blinked and started to lie, "Did you know that one of the abilities a person with machine telepathy has is turning themselves invisible to all machines?"

Jaina and Danni turned and watched as Xander voice became hollow and spooky.

"Call on your powers, your ability to focus on distracting all machines around you," he said as he lied his ass off while using affect mind to crush any hesitation or disbelief. He knew telepaths could use their telepathic ability to become invisible to all living things with a brain and as Lexa has said, the military grabbed any PSI they could find with machine telepathy powers. Therefore, it would be a good guess that they could turn themselves invisible to machines.

Doc straightened up as he tried. No, not tried, he DID it. He called on his own PSI powers, enhanced by the Type-Five implant, and suddenly Microbite flew out of the door and entered Doc's head.

Xander and the rest blinked as apparently nothing happened.

"Oh my, where did Doc go? He just vanished. Are you hiding him, Xander?" Buzz asked.

Doc's voice spoke up, unseen and even unheard by Buzz, but he was seen and heard by all others.

"What, you can't see me, buddy?" he asked, walking up to the android as the others looked on.

Zachary frowned. For his left eye, the cybernetic one, Doc was invisible. Only his right eye could see him. He sounded funny also, must be because the left ear was cybernetic also. "Hmm, I can't see you from my cybernetic eye, Walter. I can only see you using my real eye."

Buzzwang looked around. "This is not funny guys," he complained. "Where is Doc?"

Suddenly, like with a clicking of a switch, there he was.

Doc turned and looked at Xander, "Thanks."

Xander shrugged. "Nothing to thank me for, you did it all by yourself. I just gave you a push and just as you could do that with machines, Niko can do that with humans. Most of what Niko can do with telepathic powers against living humans, Doc can do against machines," he said.

Niko nodded. "Some of my people can. I have not yet mastered that skill. It seems to be too difficult for me or something." She turned and grinned at Walter Doc Hartford. "Looks like we're going to train together, trying to explore your powers a bit more," she said with a grin.

A click interrupted them as Pathfinder and Wrangler opened the door. "Where did Microbite go?" Wrangler asked. "Hey, there he is. Microbite, why did you leave us?" Pathfinder asked as they too entered Doc.

Walter the Doc smiled at Niko, "Any time spent with you is well worth it." He was pondering one thing. For some reason Niko's presence had made her horse call him Wally. Perhaps she too could affect machines. Niko's abilities stretched from telekinetic, telepathy to ESP as she was able to sense the past and sometimes pictures from a possible future. From what Xander had told them, it was possible for a PSI to have multiple powers.

Jaina giggled as she hugged Xander. Beside them Danni smiled with pride. "He's always doing that, finding out how a person can become stronger, and boom he gives them the right push."

Xander shrugged. "I just put two and two together and get five as the answer."

Buzzwang looked confused, as did the rest. "I don't get it. That makes no sense at all."

Xander nodded, "I totally agree. It makes no sense at all, even to me and I'm the one doing it. When I do it, I take different things I've read, heard or talked about, things that apparently have nothing or almost nothing at all to do with each other. Then suddenly the bits fall together and I see a pattern, a solution to a problem or a puzzle that I didn't necessarily even know existed. When it happen, it's always right and I can see that there was a hidden add one in the calculation," he said as he entered the building.

Jaina nodded. "I have seen it happen more than once. It does seem like Xander can do it, but he can't force it. It just happens."

Walter the Doc shrugged. "I'm thankful, Master Jedi man, but that gift of yours is spooky," he said.

Xander shrugged. The way Doc operated on machines just reminded him SO much of how Jessica Harris used her telepathic powers. Sure, Jessica was extremely weak for a telepath, but could still do some really nifty tricks and had explained what a powerful PSI could do. "I agree with you Doc."

As they entered the stronghold the alarm started to sound.

Jaina's eyes narrowed. "Anakin and he's angry," she said.

Note: As always my thanks go out to Inachis and Hawklan for helping out with this fic.

Chapter 35

Nearby, a short while before

Anakin groaned as he woke up. He was still a bit frozen and looking around, he found Dawn sleeping next to him, holding on to his body as much as possible and literally trying to squeeze the body heat from him. He activated his force ability to speed up his body's healing and then did the same for Dawn. Looking under the blanket he started to blush, as he realized both of them were as nude as the day they were born.

As he looked around some more, he saw a cat-girl. Not Cat though, this one was shorter and younger. She looked like Cat's daughter or clone. "Who are you?" he asked, trying not to think about the nude Dawn lying on his body.

The cat girl blinked. "I do not have a name yet. I have skills and knowledge on how to use it, but no real memories because I am a clone. I do have a computer with information that you need to know. I seem to having been ordered to obey you and protect you as we escape Lazarus," she said.

Dawn blinked. She had just woken up and that speech was too much for her tired mind to comprehend. "Huh," she said, showing of her temporary lack of intelligence. Wait a minute, is Anakin naked? Grinning, she quickly looked under the blanket, enjoying the show and then paled. SHE was naked, too. That was not fair.

Anakin took the computer pad and started to read. "It seems like Cat is dead. Lazarus Slade used a machine which copied her body and parts of her memory." He looked at the younger Cat-girl. "Whit each copy made the original Cat aged. She managed to hack the computer and ordered it to make one last copy with orders to help us out of here, as she is not strong enough to fight Slade by herself and she does not believe that we are either."

Dawn blinked again. Looking around the room she found their pants and things, including their lightsabers, sitting in a corner. She quickly walked over and started to dress herself, trying to ignore the fact that she and Anakin were nude.

"Cat also managed to un-freeze us and gave us our tools, so that we would be able to run away," Anakin finished. Then he too walked over and started to dress. If Dawn could be that cool while nude, then so could he. He quickly used the force to calm himself after seeing Dawn's nude body. 'Must play cool,' shot through his head.

Dawn nodded, "Good idea, but we are not going to do that without Lexa."

The cat-girl looked upset and Anakin asked, "What is it, Cathy?"

Said Cat-girl looked surprised, "I am Cathy?" it said, surprised, before tasting the name and approving it. "Saving your friend is not a wise choice. Lazarus Slade has mind washed her to a loyal servant."

Dawn insisted, "We are still going to save her."

Cathy sighed. "My primary mission is to serve you and help you escape Lazarus Slade. My second is making a new life for myself. We are all going to die a quick and messy death," she said.

"Cheer up Cathy. Perhaps they torture us before they kill us," Anakin said as he put on his cowboy hat. "Let's get ready to fight," he said as he activated his lightsaber, checking it out.

Followed by Dawn, who was wearing a pale white cowboy hat, pale blue jeans, a pale white skirt and a jacket which was also pale blue, both of them looked like something out of a Wild West show and, as Anakin felt at the moment, he was ready to go desperado on Lazarus Slade and spank Dawn for putting them in this situation.

As they walked out Cathy pointed out, "That's the lab. I was born inside," she explained.

"You don't say," Anakin said, walking into the lab, looking at the gizmos and machines. It took him a while to find what he wanted. With a small grin he slashed the cloning machine, then a tube on the wall and gutted the garbage can.

Now explosive gas was leaking out and the garbage can was burning.

"What did you do?" Dawn asked as she used force push to send a robot flying down the corridor.

"Made lab go BOOM," Anakin explained while sending the other robot flying down the same corridor. "Hey, mine flew longer," he grinned.

Dawn eyes frowned. "Well, I can jump dimensions," she said, grinning as she showed him her tongue.

As the corridor ended they entered a big room which was filled with robots waiting for them. No, not waiting for them, they were just standing guard over something. Nevertheless, the question was what were they standing guard over?

"We have to run. Your flying robot stunt alerted them to us," Cathy said, holding a laser gun she had stolen.

A Snap Hiss, Snap hiss sounded as the two Jedi Padawan activated their lightsabers and then the two walked, no rushed, inside and attacked the robots before she was even ready.

Cathy blinked. They were SO not listening to her. The cat girl activated her own Super-soldier powers. For four seconds she was standing still, as her body was glowing and trembling. Then swoosh she was super fast for up to twenty seconds before the speed left her.

Cathy moved and rushed swiftly into the middle of the room. She started to spin around and fired her laser gun as fast as the gun could handle. First one then two, six, twelve, shots hit robot after robot and inside her mind she was counting the seconds. Then she moved and kept firing, damaging or destroying robots with each shoot.

On the other side of the room Anakin and Dawn were cutting down the used robot market, sending spare parts flying all over the room.

The two felt sweat dripping from the hard work and the room became slippery from hydraulic oils.

Then a voice boomed up, "FOOLS. You believe you can attack my sleeping quarters?" asked Lazarus Slade from a position on top of the stairs.

Anakin blinked. "Why do bad guy always start their foolish monologues while standing on a stair or a catwalk?" he asked in wonder.

Dawn giggled, "Drama. They're all drama queens." She nodded her head. If a bad guy lived underground, they would still build platforms just to stand on them and look tall and menacing.

Anakin nodded, "Makes sense."

"You fools have no idea who you are messing with," Slade said.

Below him Dawn whispered, "The messing with talk. Just like a standard bad guy. Always dragging out like killing idiots."

Lazarus Slade's improved hearing caught Dawn's whisper and he was in a rage. "Come my soldier and capture them," he grinned and continued, "Why Lexa, say hello to your friends." Lexa walked up to stand beside him, dressed in her cowboy jeans and red shirt. "Hi, you are angering my master. Give up and you might live," she said, her eyes filled with anger.

Dawn swallowed, "NO Lexa, break free. You can do it."

Lexa frowned as she pushed her badge, activating her Type-Five copy implant and then raised her hand. Down below all hell broke loose, as every cut down part of the robots started to fly around, trying to slash, crash or crush Dawn and Anakin.

The two quickly used the force to protect themselves. It was not easy.

Dawn was surprised, "She's stronger than before. HOW?" she asked in wonder.

Even Lexa wondered about that, but then guessed that the Type-Five implant improved whatever power and ability a person had slightly and when the implant is charged with extra bio-energy, the body is supercharged. Any power is suddenly improved many times over normal levels. It depends on what type of power you have and how strong you are at the beginning. Niko's PSI power becomes about twenty times above normal and Lexa's around nine times as strong as she used to be.

Lexa was suddenly shocked. As she awoke to a new day of serving her master, she found that her PSI strength had improved and she found that she had access to another PSI power. As she activated the badge where the extra bio-energy was stored, she felt supercharged and stronger than ever.

"DIE," she screamed. How could Dawn and Anakin insult her master? Shock waves of kinetic energy broke up the floor, sending Cathy flying and Anakin and Dawn jumped for their safety.

Lexa followed, sending waves of kinetic energy that crushed anything what was hit by it. Madness was glowing in her eyes.

Lazarus Slade smiled and yelled, "Super-soldiers, kill them, my cats. Kill them."

Around him freakish looking cat women, taller than a normal human, suddenly rushed out, followed by more robots.

Anakin started to think that perhaps they had made a bad move.

Dawn slashed at a speeding cat-freak, but missed as it moved faster then she could see. She felt a rib break, as the cat-freak's fist slammed into her, sending her crashing down to the floor, head first.

As blood dripped from her head she quickly saw how things started to get dark around her. She activated a Jedi healing trance and then she fell down unconscious. Only the healing power of the force kept her alive.

Anakin lost it. As he called upon the dark side, waves of force lightning struck the room and burned robots and cat-freak alike. Lexa was smashed into a wall from a kinetic force wave. Her kinetic shield saved her life as the wall and the roof came crashing down on her.

Lazarus started to feel a bit afraid, as the power of his cyber implant was sending a wave of electric lightning down into the ground he stood on. Carried by the electricity was a bubble of disruptor energy which caused big explosions anywhere the lightning hit. Anakin parried the lightning, but the disruptor energy exploded in the air in front of him and the young Jedi student crashed down, his lightsaber flying in a different direction.

"Typical. If you want anything done right, you have to do it yourself," Slade complained and sent another blast down at Anakin.

The young man was just summoning his lightsaber as Slade attacked.

Using the force Anakin tried to jump away before it was too late and he succeeded, only to come face to face with robots that opened fire.

Bolt after bolt hit and burned him, as he tried to dissipate the energy. It was too much and Anakin felt his consciousness slipping away.

Behind him Lexa had crawled out from the wall. She looked pale for a moment and then lost consciousness, also.

Lazarus smiled. "How do you like the feeling of the gun on torture setting? Slightly more than stun and less then kill," he grinned. The boy would feel like he was burning alive and with too many hits, that could happen. He waved to the robots to stop shooting. "Now, enjoy this," he said as he charged the cyber eye with a death ray. "DIE" he shouted and opened fire.

A small cat-like figure was suddenly standing in the path of the ray, shielding Anakin with a robot head she held in her hand. Metal and blood splashed over them as the robot head in her hand exploded, burning and almost destroying her hands.

Lazarus took a deep breath and calmed himself. "Robots, take this one captive," he grinned, "And I win the match."

But his gloating was interrupted. "Only the first round," Dawn said, as her lightsaber slashed down and through his upper body, removing one arm and cutting the lung in half.

"Gurgle. You, you bitch," Lazarus said, silently activating his last chance of escape. If he died now, his soul and mind would be carried to a back up body. "Robots, kill them all!" he yelled and then fell down dead.

Cathy reacted as fast as a cat on the hunt. Flashing into super speed she attacked the robots and pulled the spinet off a hand grenade she had stolen from another one. That should give them a moment to breathe.

Around them every robot in the building armed itself.

Dawn used the force to banish the pain in her mind. "You are SO heavy," she whined as she lifted Lexa on her shoulder before grabbing Anakin. "Help us out Cathy."

Cathy looked at her with panic on her face. How was she supposed to do that? "Alright, that way," she said, pointing at a corridor filled with robots and a small armored micro battle tank.

Dawn looked at her, "Are you really sure?" She felt panic, not for herself, but for her friends.

"Uhm, perhaps the other way," Cathy said, looking and seeing a small army of heavy battle droids running in their direction.

"Let's see, what did Xander used to say? 'If all roads fail, you use the wall.' Hold her," Dawn dropped Lexa into Cathy's small arms and with Anakin hanging on her shoulder, she attacked the wall, cutting a small walk way through it.

They quickly entered and a rain of laser bolts started to destroy the wall behind them as they looked around inside a room with strange machines.

"I hope it's nothing too explosive," Dawn said, looking at a big canister with a label which read 'Warning, extremely explosive. Keep away from fire, laser and heat.'

Cathy felt panic in her mind as the wall crumbled and fire bolt after fire bolt destroyed the machines and hit the canisters.

She was just about to die in a wall of flame as the floor suddenly vanished under her feet and they fell down. Dawn grinned. The cut open the floor and fall down a level trick always worked. Now if she only could get her head to stop spinning. "Got to rest for a moment," she said and she just had time to sit down before all went dark again.

"Crap, what do to? What to do?" Cathy muttered to herself.

A groaning sound was heard as Lexa awoke. "You hurt my master."

"Crap," Cathy said as the mad PSI was about to use her power on them.

Then Lexa screamed in pain and fell down unconscious.

Cathy could hear the sound of robots closing in from every direction. "Crap, we need help now."

A voice was suddenly heard. "A true Jedi is never late. Nor is he early and the Rangers are always on time," Xander said with a grim smile under the helmet.

Danni as the healer rushed over to check on Anakin, Dawn and Lexa. "Anakin and Dawn need some medical attention. I can fix that later. Lexa on the other hand has a malfunctioning implant in her head. She needs an expert on cybernetics."

Xander nodded, "Keep her alive. I feel there are more things inside this fortress." He looked at Jaina. "We'll have two groups. Zachary? You, Danni, Buzz, Riley and Jaina carry the wounded out of the battle. Buzz? Remember to use the gas protection system. I'm counting on you to shield the wounded." He turned to the others, "We're not done with the fight yet. Doc, stay in the background, we might need your tech wizardly. Same for you Niko. Everyone else, let's go wild." He frowned, "That way."

Behind him he could see the robot straighten up with pride.

The group did not hesitate much as Zachary nodded. The kid was used to being in command and after what he has seen he did trust the kid's ability.

Soon they were rushing out.

Jumping up though the hole in the floor Goose asked, "What is it you feel?"

Xander was a bit confused. "I've sensed this only once before. It's the feeling you get when a soul leaves its body and enters a new one."

He shivered as he remembered the dark and awful thing he did to let an alternate version of Anakin Skywalker take over the body of the clone Darth Vader that once many years before murdered him and his wife. Only the fact that the clone was a copy of him and had murdered him made the act somewhat grey in the eyes of the force. Still, it was an awful thing to be able to do.

Niko raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure?" she asked.

Xander shrugged. "Up there," he said as he rushed into a chamber filled with destroyed robots, two dead cat-freak women and Lazarus Slade.

"Oho. Now he got what he deserved," Doc said.

Xander shook his head. "You're celebrating to soon," he said as he leaned down by the body. "Niko, feel this."

Niko frowned as she pushed the ranger badge and activated her type five implant. She felt his surprise as a lightsaber cut him almost in half, then he activated something and he vanished from the body. His spirit, soul and knowledge all vanished. "He's not there. It's just an emptied husk left behind."

Xander nodded as he searched out with the force. It was like finding a needle in a haystack. Luckily for him this needle was made from magnetic iron and he felt more souls screaming out for help, showing him the way. "It's that way."

Niko was impressed, "How do you do that?"

Rona smiled a smug smile, "That's why X-man is THE Jedi master of choice."

She grinned until Goose snickered, "You make him sound like a porn star."

"I do NOT," Rona exclaimed indignantly.

"Do too," was Goose's very mature response.

"Are you aware that enemy robots are on their way?" Xander asked.

The two blinked and looked in the direction Xander pointed. "And that's the way we're going."

Sighing Xander grabbed all of them by the shoulder, "Now let's walk. I'll cloak us all."

"Did not," Rona said. Ha, she got the last word.

"Did too," Goose quipped back.

"Help me anybody, is there an off button on those two?" Doc whined as the group walked forward, invisible and unheard with an arguing Rona and Goose in tow.

Willow walked up to him. "Doc, I'm curious. How do your powers work?" she asked. She wasn't good with technology like Buffy, but she was starting to become acceptable with computers again and real good with the force. On the other hand, she hadn't studied herself into a coma like Buffy had.

"Well little lady, let me explain," Doc began.

Beside them Buffy walked and listened. As far as she was concerned, she was Dawn's sister first, then Willow's force guardian after that, Dawn's Force guardian after that and finally Xander's guardian after that.

Niko sighed. "How old is Rona by the way?" she asked Xander as just beside them stood a group of robots trying to find them. It was spooky, the way they walked right up to them and the robots saw nothing.

He smiled. "Not an age you're going to approve of. She's been a guardian since I saved her from slavery 2-3 years ago. She's 18 years old now," he finished. "I was just 18 when I became a Jedi Knight and I wasn't born in the same reality as Jaina was. Long story short, some big time criminal found a dimensional gate system and used it to steal people and valued metals from Earth. Doing that made our sun instable. That wasn't good, so I was chosen to deal with it because I had abilities that others didn't. I was given some improvement, the gills are just one of those, and then I entered the gate, stopped the criminals and became a Jedi," he said while squeezing himself by a tiny robot tank that blocked most of the corridor.

Doc snorted. "Why do I have a feeling that there's more to that story?" he asked.

"Because you are of above average intelligence," Xander grinned. "The story is far too complex for me to tell you unless I have a bottle of beer and a whole night for the telling."

"So young," Niko complained, "Why didn't she stay with her mom and dad or...?" She suddenly realized what Xander was doing. He was calming them. Walking by an army of armed robots was a bit nerve wrecking and talking about this distracted them.

Xander answered her, "She was one out of many civilians visiting friends in New York on my world and suddenly she was in a futuristic looking world with star ships and space weapons, surrounded by aliens that forced her to become a dancing slave girl."

Doc asked, "So she hangs around, then?"

Xander nodded, "Indeed. She has a potential that only a small number of girls from my world have. With the correct stimuli, they could become super powered. In the reality we ended up in, all girls with that ability became super powered. On my world only one girl at the time was super powered. Once she died, the spirit that awakened the power of the girl entered a new one." He swallowed "She was called the Slayer and her duty was to fight against the demons and monsters of our world. Normally a Slayer lived half a year or less. Buffy was called when she was fifteen and she's still alive, even if her slayer powers vanished and were replaced by similar, but different Guardian abilities when she left our world."

"You've studied that right? PSI, Jedi, Force guardian, you've studied the nature of powers in humans," Niko said in an almost accusing tone.

Willow blinked, "Xander, is that true?"

Xander nodded. "Yeah, I have studied them. I have plenty of material in the academy. What? You thought I just bummed around when I wasn't teaching Jedi things, improving my own skills or having sex with my two wives? No, I studied. Dad and mom helped me and so did Lexa. As the one responsible for the Force Guardians, I have improved them and learned from them also, and I learned a lot from the ghosts," he explained.

It was more a tactical reason that he had studied, then a social one. If attacked by any new group, he needed to know what to do and how to do it. Besides, reading a computer book was the perfect way to relax.

"Oh, I see." Seems like responsibility suited Xander quite well. He was becoming a real Giles. Willow grinned. "Thanks, Xander Giles," she said, giggling.

"Hey, I am NOT a stuffy Englishman in tweed, thank you very much," Xander said in mock anger.

Buffy grinned. "Sure you're not. It's not like you take time to study obscure knowledge for the fun of it or study strange beings with strange powers. Did I just call myself strange? Anyway, it's not like you have more ancient knowledge in your computer files than Luke or at least you're trying to gather more than Luke has. Xander Giles," she teased him.

"I am not Giles. I'm a funny person," Xander complained.

Willow and Buffy grinned. "Xander is a Giles. Xander is a Giles," they started to sing.

Rona quickly ignored Goose and joined the choir. "Xander is a Giles, Xander is a Giles."

Xander sighed. "No respect. I get no respect," he whined while hiding his smile as they sneaked by another group of robots. "Silent," he said and the girls immediately fell quiet. "Doc, we have to enter that room. The moment we do, the autocannons in the roof are going to start singing a song of laser and destruction and the robots will join them. You have to take them out. Activate your invisibility, walk outside from my force cloak area and do you computer thingy." He turned to the girls, "You may continue mocking me now."

Buffy, Willow Rona and Niko grinned and picked up the chant again, "Xander is a Giles. Xander is a Giles."

Doc snorted out in laughter, but did what he was supposed to do.

Goose shook his head and then joined the girls, "Xander is a Giles. Xander is a Giles."

Xander just hang his head, sighing. Why him?

Outside Pathfinder, Tripwire and Tweeker made short work of the computer system guiding the laser cannons and once they returned, Doc set them on the door. All the while MicroBite kept him invisible to machine minds.

As he nodded, Xander dropped the cloak.

Snap hiss, snap hiss and Xander's lightsabers were active.

Snap hiss, Willow's lightsaber was active.

Snap hiss and Buffy's energy shield was active and the Thunderer drawn.

Goose pulled his pair of laser guns only to find that both had been replaced by a pair of Thunderer heavy laser pistols. "Nice," he said, grinning.

Xander said, "It's only a short time loan. We can't afford to give them away. That fire cracker you call a laser pistol is pathetic."

Then the fight started.

Spinning around, Xander dived in like a moving shield. Not a blaster bolt fired by the robots against him and his friends made it past him as he closed in on the robots. Bolt after bolt was parried back towards the robots. Willow followed a bit reluctantly as she had trouble in the beginning with parrying, but as her confidence grew. She started to move faster, followed directly by Buffy.

Goose had the time of his life with the high powered fast shooting guns of destruction. One bolt totally melted a hole into one and a half robots. He made a tactical choice as the laser bolts flew around him. It was only a question of time before he was going to be hit, especially if he went after the robots like Xander and the girls were doing. Niko and Doc were hiding.

"Time to improve himself, Niko, shoot me in the right foot," he yelled.

His fellow ranger nodded, aimed and sent a laser bolt into his foot. Groaning from the pain, he quickly activated the type five implant, which supercharged his body's abilities. In two seconds the wound from the laser was gone and his body started to glow and looked crystalloid. His transformation power changed him into something that was immune to laser bolts and like the Jedi, he entered the brawl without any further fear of laser bolts. If only he could activate his power without being hurt first.

Then robot body parts started to fly as the Jedi, Goose and the Guardians dived into the pile of gun wielding human shaped garbage cans as if they'd been on sale for half price.

Willow Force pushed a robot into four others and then force jumped right into them, cutting all their heads off with a single stroke. Behind her Buffy smashed the head of one robot with her energy shield and then blasted two other robots while kicking another so hard that it's breast plate caved in, half crushing the insides of the robot.

Steady, she followed Willow in the battle.

Rona did the same with Xander. She still remembered the time the big goof ball managed to get his own foot shot off.

Goose just walked in and let the Thunderer blaster pistol sing a song of destruction, ignoring the rain of supposedly deadly laser bolts hitting him.

In front of her, Xander spun around, sending robot parts flying as he slashed with his sabers.

As the smoke filled the room around them, the two Jedi suddenly stopped moving and like ballet dancers, they both turned the lightsabers off in unison.

A big armored droid tank suddenly fell apart from the cuts Xander and Willow had made. A crashing sound broke the silence of the room as Xander turned to Goose. "Good shooting," he said simply.

The super soldier nodded, looking at Rona, a bit intimidated. This was the girl HE had started a fight with? Oh well, Rona and Buffy looked impressed with and intimidated by him, he grinned.

"Now you've seen the real Goose in a battle, girl," he flirted with Buffy.

She rolled her eyes.

Doc and Niko walked up, looking around in surprise, marveling at the destruction their friends had caused.

Xander opened the armored door. Inside was a cold freeze, an empty cold freeze.

Looking around he saw signs of something crawling on the floor towards an escape ship. Inside an escape tunnel was Lazarus Slade. Too cold and freezing, he wasn't yet able to really move. Only his cybernetics kept him going.

Xander lifted his hand and using the force, pulled the man closer. "A Jedi only kills in self defense," he said. "But a small number of Jedi believe in preemptive defense. You are very unlucky Slade, since I am one of them." He focused his power, using his sense power to see inside the criminal and then to crush every gizmo, every cybernetic improvement the man had inside of him, destroying them with his telekinetic power. As he focused his power of sense he found more and more objects to crush.

He held the lightsaber in one hand, clearly indicating that interruption would not be a wise idea. The Rangers stayed put.

Smoke came from the Lazarus eye as it was crushed. Smoke came as the rebirth gizmo was destroyed. Fire busted out and was put out as the weapon system in his arms was destroyed and his leg exploded in fire, then fell off.

It took only a short moment. Then Xander held out the shivering husk of a crying criminal. "Here he is. I destroyed every dangerous object implanted inside of him and any strange non-organic object I found." He grinned evilly. "I believe keeping him arrested and under control will be much easier now, don't you?" he said. Unless the criminal died of course. There was a chance of that, there was minor interior bleeding everywhere.

He sighed and made Lazarus fall unconscious under a minor healing trance. "Let's see," he said, dropping the criminal to the floor as if he was something stinky and disgusting. "What was it that was calling out in pain?" Looking around he found two crystals inside the machines, one inside each machine.

"There are souls inside of them. They're in pain," he said in shock.

"It's the Queen of Crown psycho crystal. She uses them to power the Slaver lords and other things," Goose said with a shiver.

Niko tenderly took one in her hands, "If you push here, you can see a picture of the being or beings trapped inside and if you find the body, they can be restored."

She gasped, "It's Eliza. Eliza Foxx, Zachary's wife. We found her."

The other crystal was of a being unknown to them. Perhaps they could find his body in one of the Crown crypts of living dead, where the bodies of those trapped in psycho crystals were sleeping in cold sleep.

Xander nodded, "They where powering the soul catcher. He had a gizmo inside of him that kind of worked like a pitcher, throwing out his soul at the last moment and then this gizmo cached it and put it inside a cloned body. Whatever soul was inside of it was ejected."

Snap hiss and the machines were destroyed.

"Let's go," he said, leaving a small thermal detonator behind him.

"When I said go, I really meant let's run. It's going to explode," Xander said with a grin as he started to rush away.

"Oh fuck," Willow said as she started to run.

"You crazy asshole," Buffy yelled, as she also started to run after the madly giggling Jedi Master.

"That is not a good sign," Goose said as he started to run like the demons in hell were after him. Even with Lazarus hanging from his back he had no problems following them.

Doc and Niko nodded and rushed after them.

Zachary looked up in surprise as Xander rushed out, jumped up on his horse and spoke to the gang. "O sorry, I forgot to activate the count down," he said as he pushed down a button. "Now we better start riding."

Buffy glared, "I so hate you."

Willow nodded in agreement.

"Hey ho, hey ho Xander is no Giles, hey ho, hey ho Xander is no Giles," Xander started to sing as he rode away followed by the others.

As they came behind the hills Xander stopped and looked carefully back.

Goose snorted. "Good pay back."

Zachary grinned, "Why do I have the feeling there's a good story behind that?" He was interrupted by a gigantic explosion rocking the fortress and lighting the whole thing on fire.

More and more small explosions were set off by the first and the place started to burn to the ground.

"What was that?" Buzz asked.

Xander grinned. "A thermal detonator, it is like a micro Nuke with almost no gamma radiation. It only generates pure heat, as if standing in the sun itself. A standard thermal creates a circle of about 10 to 20 meters around the bomb where everything is more or less destroyed and there's nothing left. Fragmentation from the heat wave moving out from the center of the explosion leaves more destruction for up to another 100 to 200 meters, more or less, depending on the area it exploded in and the strength of the thermal. What exploded behind you was a military grade thermal detonator with a central circumference of around 100 meters and a blast radius of up from 500 to 1000 meters. Owning one carries a death penalty on more than a hundred thousand worlds," he finished with a grin. "Lucky me, I got a special permit." His smile was absolutely evil. Sure, he did exaggerate the blast radius a bit and behind them a once mighty fortress fell asunder as fire destroyed its structure.

Walter Doc Hartford swallowed, "What the hell are those things used for?"

Xander answered. "Mostly for asteroid mining, once armed and primed for explosion, they become instable and throwing them around is not a wise move. As long as they are unarmed, they can be carried around safely, mostly. Arming them in place and then setting a timed explosion is what you do," he said repeating a well trained lesson.

"And you carried that around while it was unsafe?" Walter asked, his disbelief evident in his tone.

Xander sighed, "I said unarmed. You have to arm it first. Once you push the arming button, the thermal detonator becomes unstable and primed for explosion. Until then it's perfectly safe, unless someone hits it with a gun. Military units often have one or two with them. In case they encounter something really big." He neglected to mention that the bigger the boom, the more unstable the thermal became, even in its unarmed state. He was happy that he had one less thermal inside the ship, to tell the truth.

Beside them Lazarus swallowed. This guy was crazy, totally crazy. "Wh-why were you attacking me?" he croaked out.

Xander growled. "You experimented on my sister. You kidnapped my brother in law and a girl who is not only my student, but also someone I consider a younger sister. Three people I care about and love. You, Lazy, are only alive because I know life in an Earth military jail will be so much more painful to you than death. Especially as they squeeze out every bit of information you have. Every secret you know, they will ask about. Earth claims they don't use torture. Yeah, right. You are SO in for a life of pain, Stumpy," he said, grinning as the pale shivering body of Lazarus felt mind numbing fear.

Without cybertech Lazarus Slade's legs, right arm, and parts of his left arm were missing. The right eye and ear were gone and some small cyber implants in the back and inside his brain were also gone. If he'd been a human, he would have been crippled for life, and the mad scientist had a feeling no one would help him replace the missing parts on Earth. He was well and truly fucked.


	11. Chapter 36 to 38

Note: Tx to Inachis for getting this fixed up so fast.

Chapter 36

The ride back was silent.

Xander was hanging around Lexa and worried about her. The rest was thinking about what they had experienced so far. Once they were at the ship Xander took Anakin aside for a private talk.

Looking at the worried face of his brother in law he first gave him a hug. "How do you feel kid?" Xander started in a friendly and caring way, ignoring the fact that the Rangers were spying on them.

Anakin sat down beside him. "I used the dark side," he said.

Xander nodded. "I know. All of us know. How did it feel?" He knew exactly how it feels, twisted, evil and alluring with the promise of power and might.

"Evil and powerful, so twisted and full of rage, and yet it was almost like a roller coaster, a real ride and house of horror," Anakin said, trying to explain a feeling that was almost orgasmic and at the same time disgusting and scary.

Xander nodded. "You feel it and know it's there. Something about it is calling you," he said, seeing the kid nod. He continued: "You have Skywalker blood. You have the power to use the dark side without falling for it. That I have told you." He sighed. "Still, it's dangers to use it. You want to use more and more until you give yourself, body and soul, to the dark side."

"Is it always going to be singing to me, talking to me?" Anakin asked.

Xander hid his twitch. Crap the kid had really gone deep into the darkness. "No, Anakin it's not. It will take a day or two, perhaps a week. Meditate and calm yourself, and the song will quiet down. What you did is dangerous and should never be done." He smiled as he gave the kid a hug. "And I am proud of you. You did it and returned to the light," he said, slowly tapping into Force light, using it to help calm Anakin's soul.

Anakin nodded. "So now what?" He felt the song grow quieter, as if it had been scared away by Xander's presence. Knowing Xander, he probably had.

"Now, you rest, you meditate and once the song has gone silent, the two of us are going to explore the border between the light and dark side of the force," Xander said.

"WHAT!" Anakin's voice exploded out in surprise. "You just said it should never be done."

Xander nodded. "Correct. You did it in pure anger and using instinct alone. That should never ever be done. That is how you get trapped. Even we who are immune can get trapped in so deep that we need help to get out of the dark side."

Anakin nodded. "Why explore it then?" he asked, wondering why.

Xander sighed, "Because you have already tasted the forbidden and there will come a time when you need the extra power it can grant you. When that happens, you should use its power carefully. Anger without hate is the key and even then it's an awful and dangerous thing to do."

The kid nodded.

Xander continued. "The force is created by life and death. The light side of the force represents life and the power of the force that creates and heals. The dark side represents death, destruction, hate and the powers that destroy, and most Jedi would say that anger is also a part of the darkside." Xander looked at him and continued. "It is not. With anger comes hate and hate is part of the darkside, but anger itself is not dark. It's a grey emotion, terribly close to the dark side and the key in using the darkside without falling for it. Something most beings are unable to do. Even we should never ever use it," he explained. "That's why I try never to use it and you know me. How often do I use the dark side in combat?"

Anakin frowned. "Not that often, hardly ever. Force lightning sometimes, but not often," he said, nodding.

Xander smiled. "Exactly, if I need to, I can use it. Just remember that going down too deep leads to madness." He rubbed his hands together. "Let's go and see if they have some food on this ship, because I'm hungry and I know you're hungry, right?"

During the journey here Zachary had made it clear that the kitchen was off limits to them, as it was near a sensitive area of the ship. If they wanted food, they just had to ask for it and the others would bring it to them.

Speaking up Xander said, "Listen guys, we're hungry, could you get us some food? What I normally eat, but double it. The kid is hungry too." He grinned.

Anakin nodded as he smiled a bit. The sick songs of the dark side hadn't vanished, but he could ignore them more easily now.

As they exited the room the crew of the ranger ship continued with their work, trying to look like they hadn't been listening in.

Doc snorted. He'd known this guy would discover them. "I'll get you two some food," he said. "The usual?"

Xander nodded. "And a smaller portion for Ani."

Anakin groaned. "Not that nickname, I hate it."

"Hate leads to the dark side Ani. Let go of your hate and let us all mock your name," Xander said in a fake voice of wisdom.

Only to get a smack on his head from Jaina. "Stop teasing my brother, you big Meany. Lexa is sleeping and Danni is keeping an eye on her," she said.

Xander nodded, feeling safer. "I know. I talked to Anakin."

Jaina nodded. "Good. He's my brother and it's my duty to tease him. Ani," she let out a deep breath, "this kidnapping was a least a nine in performance."

Anakin complained. "Hmm, not a full 10 point in performance? They completely surprised us and they used coffins to carry us in. The quality of the guest room on the other hand, a low 2, I'd say."

Jaina shivered. "That bad?"

Anakin nodded. "Four words. Deep freeze guest room."

Jaina nodded. "Low two points in hospitality, I agree. The quality of the madman was a three at least."

Anakin nodded. "I would say a low seven." Seeing her surprise he explained, "He was skilled and tricky, but he'd never faced Jedi before and underestimated us. Nor did he have any information on us. While you guys had inside information and knew how to deal with a mad scientist. It wasn't the first time we've done that."

Jaina nodded. "Right. With those justifications, I agree to a low seven."

Xander smiled in amusement. "So, full points for the kidnappers. The mad scientist gets a low point for hospitality and seven points in quality as an evil mad man."

The brother and sister beside him nodded. 19 points. That was actually higher then Lumiya, who only rated a low 13, mostly thanks to her awesome power and skill in combat, and lost points on combat planning.

Niko leaned over to Zachary, "Are they giving quality points to kidnappers now?"

The man nodded, still trying to ignore what he was hearing.

Xander frowned, "I wonder how many points Vader would get?"

Jaina answered him, "From what I heard, 25 points easy or higher."

-KNM-

Later, after the ship had entered the ranger base and the crew had left.

Lexa was under the care of Q-ball and the medical experts of the base, with Danni and Niko helping her to get over the mind wash she had suffered. As the implant was more or less responsible, this was easier than it would have normally been. Dawn and Jaina were staying by her side. Anakin had gone to the Ranger Park to meditate and clean himself. Willow kept him company and silently meditated with him.

Xander, Riley, Commander Walsh and Captain Zachary were in a meeting about Cathy.

"She is a dangerous being, a super-soldier Miami and she is a clone of a criminal," Walsh said. "We don't know if she has the criminal's memories, nor can we judge her on the merits of her mother."

Xander nodded, "I don't feel any deception or trickery from her."

Riley coughed in his hand, "Boss remember, her mother had training that protected her against telepaths and force users."

Xander blinked. "Alright, if she has that training then," he shrugged, "I would be unable to read her or even discover that she has the training, unless she makes a mistake while switching personalities." He grinned. "Now you see why we need Force Rangers and Force Guardians. Jedi like me often get blinded by our powers and set too much trust in them instead of using plain old common sense. Which is something so rare that it's a power all by itself."

Riley grinned, "My common sense is tingling. I think I have an idea."

They all looked at him.

Riley continued, "She stated that she wants to help you guys. Why not take her in as a deputy, not a Ranger, but a special deputy. Your reason is that her abilities and powers make her extremely useful and until she has proven herself, the Ranger badge will be outside her rights." He snorted, "That should keep the guys in charge happy."

Zachary nodded, "Yes it would. The information Cat copied on that computer, showing that Lazarus Slade sabotaged the Miami super-soldier training on the orders of the Queen of Crowns, will make the Miami survivors even angrier at queeny."

"You're thinking of the human super soldier program, correct?" Commander Walsh asked.

Zachary nodded, "Yes, out of all those super soldiers only Goose remained sane and we have seen more than one of the super soldiers working for the Queen lately. We should start an investigation to find out if our program was sabotaged as well."

Walsh, who had been one of the men working with the super soldier program, nodded. "It's going to be difficult, not many of us are still alive. The reason they all decided to escape and murder all the scientist and soldiers on the whole base was the gas used on them unwillingly, a gas that activated their super powers. A gas that Goose was never exposed to," he sighted. "The so called creator of the gas is dead and the senator who ordered the use of the gas also died recently." His experienced mind considered a way they could start an investigation, then nodded, "I'll have Niko and Walter on it."

"What about Cathy?" Zachary asked.

Commander Walsh looked at them, "Have her stay for now. We will send the information on the treachery to the Miami and not anything about Cathy's existence. Let her stay as a ranger deputy and see if she earns her keep. If she does, then we will see if we can have our first alien ranger," he grinned.

It would be difficult to see her as an adult. She was half the size of a human. He ignored the fact that in reality the clone was only days old and physically around her mid teens, because she had nowhere to go. Her own species would never trust her and without protection the only way she could survive was as a criminal.

Xander nodded. "Now what have you found out about Lexa?" he asked.

Commander Walsh sighted. "Lazarus Slade used a reengineered and faulty version of the Type 5 implant. It was based on a blue print he'd stolen of a half finished prototype which failed completely. He must have tried to fix the problem with the prototype, but failed."

"So what is her situation? Can you remove it and is it safe to remove?" Xander asked.

There was more silence and then Walsh spoke. "Once you get a Type 5 implant, it's part of you for life," Walsh said. "We cannot remove it. She's going to live her life with a crippling disability because of the faulty implant," he said sadly.

Xander frowned, "I can feel that there is a solution you have not mentioned."

Walsh nodded, "There is. The implant can be upgraded to a working Type 5. The trouble is that it's considered a state secret and there's no way that I can get the clearance to do that from the ones in charge."

Xander closed his fist. "How about a deal? I have detailed blue prints of a working teleportation system, a so called ring transporter. I can also give you blue prints to a shipload of weapons and energy shields for your ship. The cost is a Type 5 implant for Lexa and help with repairing the ship." He took a step closer. "And if the people in charge try to trick me and because of that Lexa gets even more hurt in any way, they will go down," he said, his eyes turning weak yellow as he did an illusion, causing all people except Riley to feel fear.

Walsh nodded. "I'll call my bosses." This offer would make them drool. They would NOT like the idea of sacrificing one of the Type 5 implants, but on the other hand these people would soon be leaving for another dimension.

-KNM-

Two days later

Walsh was tired after he talked to politicians and military officers, showed them tapes indicating the capacity of the Jedi if angered, and also showed of what they were offering and told them the fact that the Jedi and crew where not staying and that in fact they were leaving this whole dimension. Not forgetting that thanks to the training Xander and the still handicapped Lexa had given Niko and Walter, the two PSI users were now stronger than ever.

After much talking from his side they finally had agreed. Lexa would be given a working Type 5 implant. Naturally he did not believe it, so he had to call in all his contacts among the spies, the sneaks, the information dealers around Project 'Implant'.

He also had Xander and Jaina do the Jedi thing and Niko do her psychic thingy. It looked real.

Then finally somebody in charge got cranky with him trying to find a conspiracy, when one didn't exist for once. The idea of equipping the ship with teleporter and energy shields, which were effectively more useful than a simple Type 5 implant made them want to stick to the deal. Earth would not risk losing the chance and Lexa was prepped for operation again.

Zachary had taken a holiday with his family. Q-ball had managed to revive his wife and together with the kids, they had vanished back to Earth, relaxing. It seemed like Zachary had also talked to some people in the Project Implant and made sure they knew the danger in pissing of a Jedi Master.

As his sister rolled into the operation room Xander sat outside next to a pathetic looking Dawn. Even with Buffy and Anakin calming her down, she was devastated.

Danni, being a trained Jedi healer, was standing between the doctor and the operating robots. Her ability to speed up healing would be used later. Combined with the method used by the machines to speed up healing they suspected that Lexa would be up and moving in less than two weeks.

Chewing his nails and feeling truly afraid Xander watched as his sister's body and brain was cut open to change and upgrade the implant. Not that they actually cut her brain open, it was more like using nano-prob needles, a molecule thick that bit by bit removed and installed the pieces that formed the type 5 implant inside the brain. For the bigger parts of the implant they did cut her open. Not much, but still enough to make Xander walk away before he'd have a nervous breakdown.

Later inside the ship a group of technicians, with Anakin's and Jaina's help, installed something in one of the bedrooms.

"This is the Type 5 charger, a small portable version," one technician named Bill said. "The implant consists of many parts, the interior part that's inside the girl and," he said showing them a badge, "this, the power badge. It holds an extra charge of bio energy, like a battery. Once it's activated the energy supercharges the body and the Type 5 implant. She has to wear the power badge on her body to use it. It can hold from two to a hundred charges. PSI users tend to gain more power from the badge than other people and they drain the badge faster too."

He looked at the charger they'd installed. "The badge can be recharged two ways. Normally from the energy her body gives away as she moves or sleeps or by standing her inside the charger wearing the badge." Seeing that they understood he continued, "According to the deal you made you're going to get the information on how to build these things yourself. Keep it secret, it's an awful weapon in the wrong hands."

Anakin and Jaina nodded, "Yes, we will keep it quiet."

They looked at the power badge. Instead of the classic Ranger star Lexa had chosen the Greek symbol for PSI. It looked like a tree with two empty branches.

The repairs on the Enterprise continued. The worn out parts were replaced and repaired, and soon the tired old engine felt young and eager to go for a flight. The systems were working and the crew was ready.

Dawn meditated. She was sure that with Xander's help she could take them where they wanted to go, as long as they were close to the first reality they had entered. The one with the gates.

Lexa felt stronger, faster and PSI-stronger than ever with the Type 5 implant improving her body and mind and with her power badge, once she pushed it and the bio-energy charged her PSI power, her strength rocked so high she was no longer only a Telekinetic, but started to show other PSI powers as well.

The abilities of PSI-Healing power, as her father had, were something she could now learn and her kinetic shield power was awesome. Sadly she had no energy manipulation ability.

Escorted by the Ranger's ship the Enterprise entered deep space and prepared for the D-jump and in a tiny blink they vanished.

Note: As always my thanks go out to Inachis and Hawklan who made my fic much easier to read.

Chapter 37

Xander ignored the down folded robot horses inside the cargo bay for a moment and with a sigh thought to himself that they were gathering too much junk on the ship. Sure the horses were effective, used extremely little fuel compared to other crafts and could handle almost any terrain or gravity, but still. He glared at them before ignoring them again, as he opened the secret weapons stash. Officially not even Jaina knew about this place, but in reality she used it to store her secret weapons.

The secret and sensor shielded armory room was way too empty, at least when it came to explosives. He was down to two thermal detonators, two civilian versions and a bag of hand grenades, and somehow he'd ended up giving away too many Compnor stun guns.

Not that it really mattered. They hardly ever used them, except as back up weapons.

A mixed batch of light, normal, and heavy blaster pistols and rifles where stored inside. There were also some Vibro knives and PPG blasters they'd gotten in the B-5 universe and some Minbari battle pikes and other fun, but strange things, like staff weapons.

Xander smiled as he put down a Galaxy Ranger laser pistol. At least he had one cool new gun for the weapon collection. In a way he was happy they were running out of thermals, they were just too unstable.

On his way back he could see Dawn meditating together with Lexa. Only a short time ago Dawn had convinced Lexa and Anakin to sneak out and go for an adventure. It had ended bad, really bad. Lexa had almost been mind washed and crippled by a faulty cybernetic implant.

He was angry with them all and not just Dawn. The others should have talked her out of it. Hm, perhaps disappointed, not angry, was a better way to describe what he felt and then Anakin had pulled on the darkside of the force. The taint was gone now, but the kid still had nightmares.

He didn't say anything. What they experienced was painful enough to be called punishment. What he did was talk to them and try to understand why they did what they did and also tried to make them understand the mistake they had made. Sure, the punishment they got was a bit too harsh compared to the crime, yet another reason they were not being punished by him, and they where teens. Hanging around a ship being responsible all the time must be hard for them. He sighed.

Why was he the responsible one? Both Buffy and Willow had started to call him Xander Giles. He wasn't that boring. Sure, he was responsible for Willow's and Dawn's training. He also helped Rona and Buffy improve their skills, with the help of Jaina, Danni and Riley, of course. It was a lot of responsibility for him to teach and learn all the time. That didn't make him boring, did it? Oh no, now he was brooding like a dead boy junior.

Seeing Danni looking curiously at him, he smiled, opening his mind to his red skinned Zeltron love. "Hmm just thinking," he said.

She snorted out a giggling sound in amusement over the ridiculous thing he was brooding about, brooding about being boring. Talk about self-fulfilling prophesies.

Shrugging he sat down next to her in the monster love seat, made from the jaw bone of a big monster he slew a while back. Quite comfortable if you ignored the fact that you where surrounded by sharp teeth. "Hush you," he said, kissing Danni's nose. "I have all the right in the world to be brooding. Carrying the ship across dimension is hard work. It makes me feel washed out a bit. Just let me rest a day or two and I'll stop."

Rona put her computer book away and rubbed her face with her hands, wiping over the tired eyes. "I'm never going to get this," she complained. She had taken up training in the art of an armor master: in how to build, repair and modify armor and weapons. To do that she needed knowledge on weapon modifications, armor engineering and blaster engineering. You needed many different repair skills, depending on what type of weapon or armor it was.

Buffy on the other side shrugged. "You try it. Try to focus your mind. Like you do when you are improving your body," she grinned.

Rona sighed, "Alright." Seeing Xander she smiled. "Yo, where are we?" she asked.

Xander answered, "Near Proxima Centauri, not far from Earth. The dimension should be the one with the Star Gate."

Rona grinned, "Really?" That was so cool.

Buffy nodded. "Are we going back for a visit?" she asked and then she frowned. "Um, I thought Alpha Centauri was the closest star to Earth," she said in confusion.

Xander nodded, "Yes. Both me and Dawn are a bit too tired now, so after we have recovered a bit, we are going to visit. Our jump ability is going to be out for days any way."

He was curious to see how his students were doing. Leaning back and using Danni as a pillow, he explained about the stars. "Alpha Centauri is a binary-star system, consists of Centauri Alpha, which is slightly bigger than Sol and a yellow-white star, and Centauri Beta, an orange-yellow star which slightly smaller than Sol."

Buffy blinked and Xander continued, "I checked it up the last time I was on Earth. The two, Alpha and Beta, circle each other, with Alpha as the primary and Beta as the one rotating around it. The two Binary stars have attracted the attention of a red dwarf called Proxima, which follows and rotates around the Alpha Centauri solar system."

Buffy nodded in understanding. "Like, way to much information, X-Giles," she said, grinning.

Xander snorted, "Is it? What are binary solar systems known for and what are red dwarfs useful and feared for?"

Buffy blinked. "Um. I don't know," she said.

Xander said, "What they are known for is in the pilot exams on many worlds."

There where silence, until Riley grinned and spoke up. He had taken the pilot shipper exams, as a licensed copilot. "A Red Dwarfs gives away less or almost no UV radiation and more infrared light than yellow suns. They sometimes flare with gigantic pulses of UV and electromagnetic radiation that make them a hazard for space travel and sensors. It's a great place to hide. If you fly in a ship with lots of enemies or you smuggle, that's the kind of things you have to know," he said.

Xander nodded.

"Um, what are Binary systems used for then?" Buffy asked.

Riley shrugged, "No idea."

Danni came to the rescue. "That's depending on the type of star and how they rotate around each other. It's a trick question that's almost always in a test. The correct answer is they can disrupt a ship's ability to enter hyperspace, forcing the pilot to make a second jump."

Riley frowned, thinking back. "Damn, I got that one wrong then." He shrugged, he still passed the test. He had 51 correct answers in the theory test out of 100 theory questions. So he got the minimum of 50 correct answers to take the copilot license. For the copilot test, it's the two practical tests that are more important. Piloting test, cargo and passenger handling test and then last the theory test.

Rona, who had not taken the official test, but learned any way and was planning to take a piloting license on a Hutt world, there it was less testing and more buying, nodded. "How did you do during the test?" she asked.

Riley answered her, "Theory was 51 out of a hundred. The handling test I aced, 100 % correct in all parts, and piloting only 75 out of a hundred." He was actually quite proud, except for the theory part. That one he had to take five times.

Danni nodded in agreement, "The theory test is always hard. Each world seems to go out of their way to create their own versions of them. I don't think that it has become more standardized after the Republic fell. The other two is most often common sense, how to store things in cargo, basic repairs, handling passengers and piloting."

"I think we better shut up, seems like boss man is asleep," Riley said, grinning at the sight of Xander's face drowning between the two soft hills on Danni upper body and snoring a bit.

"My poor darling," Danni said, smiling as she gently lifted him with the force and the two walked away into the bedroom.

"Uh it's going to take a long time before I take the piloting license," Buffy said.

Rona grinned, "Not if you do it my way. The Hutt's let almost anybody buy the license, if they can prove their piloting skills are good enough."

For some reason that didn't make anybody feel safer in space.

-KNM-

Later on Earth

"Yo, Jedi Knight O'Neill," the irritatingly happy voice of Lieutenant Colonel Cameron Mitchell said as he hurried up to them.

"Is he finding that funnier than I do? I'm right, he is making fun of me," said Jack O'Neill, Earth's only Jedi Knight, even if Jonathan O'Neill Junior, his clone, had started to learn to use the Force as well.

Cameron grinned, "No way." He leaned forward. "By the way we have a visitor, perhaps you know him, he's an old friend," he said, holding forward a Yoda doll. "Aaa Jedi you are, Hi you say to master," Cameron said, waving the doll's hand.

Groaning from the pain of the bad joke, Jack could only shake his head. "It's not a new joke, you know," he sighed. At least he had a standing invitation to the Skywalker ranch.

Around him even Teal'c was laughing.

"What? Teal'c, old buddy of mine, when did you get a sense of humor? It's a bad joke, Xander didn't look anything like that," Jack whined.

Teal'c smiled in amusement, "I found the use of a joke enhanced the joke. Knight O'Neill."

Samantha O'Neil, formerly Carter, giggled, "O come on honey, it's a perfect joke."

"Anyway Sir," Cameron said, calling Jack O'Neill Sir, even if the man had left the air force to become civilian and train as a Jedi, a real freaking Jedi with power, lightsaber and all. He had some deal with the President and Stargate command as a civilian contractor and specialist. "An alien ship is calling for you."

"That's not good. That's never good, right?" Jack said. He knew he had a strange feeling this morning. "What's the name of the snake this time?" he said in irritation. Who knew the snakes would be absolutely freaked out by his powers?

Cameron grinned, "They said it's the Enterprise, but if we called them Picard or Kirk they'd kick our butt, and they asked if they could talk to you, sir." His eyes glittered; it was the Enterprise. Forget about the crappy TV shows or movies. No, this is the real ship, the one that created the Earth's first Jedi. The one where Leia's daughter and son where in, the ship with which the now legendary Xander traveled.

George Lucas and Spielberg had even made a movie based on the stories Xander had told them about his Star Wars universe. He loved it.

...

Star Wars VI (Star Wars part 7)

Tales of the Jedi Legacy: The End of Victory

The rebels had victoriously defeated the evil empire and Darth Vader. Luke Skywalker is rebuilding the Jedi order, but without its strength, a new devastating power is growing and the New Republic, a giant on clay feet, was breaking apart in civil war and the fight to rebuild. This is the story of the new generation of Jedi and champions of the Star Wars universe.

Xander Warstar, a young man from a warrior race, who seeks to escape his races aggressive and primitive ways.

Jaina Solo, daughter of the famous Han and Leia Solo.

Anakin Solo, the son of Han and Leia.

Jacen Solo, the twin brother of Jaina. (He's not seen that much in the show).

Rona Cutter, a Guardian of war that seeks revenge on Xander for leaving their home world and culture, only for her and many of her sisters to join the new Jedi Order as protectors and friends after a deadly fight.

Danni from the planet Zeltrona, a Zeltron and a walking sex bomb.

Rilly is a strange and silent humanoid with black eyes, who has fought side by side with Xander on many occasions. His species is known as enemies to Xander Warstar's race and he carries a mystic dark secret about Xander's past. A secret both of them fear.

The movie had famous actors and stars and was made in less than six months. It was a success. The outcry over a polygamous relationship between Xander, Danni and Jaina was enormous. It had shocked and captured the imagination of the world and the best part was.

Tales of Jedi Legacy: The Burden of the Future

The continued saga of Xander, Jaina, Danni and the rest of their friends in a galaxy which is broken by a civil war. It would be in the theaters this month and he was going to meet them, the real them. They even had a Dagger corvette in the movie.

Cameron made sure to bring his copy of the DVD and had an extra. "If we're going to meet them, can I come? Please?" he begged.

"Whatever," Jack said, as he hurried to the communication center. They were back. Just wait 'till he saw Xander's face after that movie. It was a good movie, but the star playing Xander did not have that strange mix between goof (just laugh) and warrior (You are dead now) that Xander had.

Samantha, who was off mission duty for now, because as one of the leading experts in repulsor and Hyperdrive technology the combined military forces as well as the government refused to risk her life, and as she had married to the now civilian Jedi Knight Jack O'Neill, and the two were trying to create mini-me, it was a perfect time for that.

Jonathan O'Neill, his teenage clone, had jumped at the chance of getting out of school and back to REAL life the moment he'd seen O'Neill new skills. He had taken the chance to get Jedi training and help out on the base. He was now a junior expert with Jedi knowledge, but a senior military expert as he and Jack both had the same memory up to the point where Loki cloned him.

They even let the kid go on missions.

Beside them walked Cameron with an ill hidden grin on his face. He had become a Star Wars geek after finding out that it was all true, more or less. At least Teal'c had someone to talk Star Wars with now.

-KNM-

Later

The SG1 Team, Jack and Samantha waited outside the Star Gate command. Not even if his life depended on it, could he remember who the fourth member of the SG1 was. In Jack's opinion she was the most non-exiting person he had ever met.

He looked over, seeing Cameron talking to both Daniel and Teal'c, with the fourth member standing slightly behind. Silently like a mouse, seemingly enjoying the bickering males in her team. Like Samantha, she had a scientific background.

Samantha snorted, 'Boys.' At least, even without them, SG1 kept going. Daniel and Teal'c had found a good replacement in Cameron and what was her name again?

Beside them stood Major General Henry Landry, currently the commander in charge over Star Gate command. The new SG1 team seemed to work well. He only hoped Doctor Alison Porter would get her head out of the shell and be more social.

Behind them stood a hundred honor guards in attention. Legends where coming and if they had a red carpet, they would have used it.

Any other argument was interrupted with a roaring sound, as the Enterprise appeared in the sky, hovering a bit then slowly landing on the landing struts.

Henry could not help, but to think how much that ship reminded him of a turtle.

A short moment later the entry hatch opened and the crew walked out.

Jack held his breath, as he counted the gang. One was missing.

"One is missing," Samantha said with a worried voice.

He nodded, "I know."

Xander gave his one time student a small bow and Jack returned it. "Student, I feel you have grown strong in the force, yet you have a lot of growing to do yet. Truly a master of the force you become then." He grinned. "And with that the Yoda moment is finished, even if it was the truth."

Jack grinned as he walked up and gave his Master a manly one arm hug. "So how is life and is everybody alright?" he asked, worried.

Xander nodded. "Chloe fell in love and stayed behind," he grinned. "It was in an alternate version of our home universe, with a Leia Skywalker and Luke Organa, the prince of Alderaan," he snorted. "She fell in love with the young handsome prince Luke and the force itself seemed to want her to remain," he shrugged.

At that Jack had to laugh.

Major General Henry Landry, seeing that the meet and greet between the student and master was done, walked up. "Jedi master Harris-Solo, it's an honor to have you visit us again. We would be honored if you stayed with us for as long as you wish," he said.

Xander nodded and said with a smile, "It's my honor to stay with you and before we leave, I'm going to give Earth some new toys. PPG's, a Phased Plasma gun. We found the blue prints on a place called Babylon 4." The look of shock and awe some of the soldiers had been fun to see.

General Henry said, "Um, it is an honor anyway. You were joking about Babylon though? It's a TV show," he explained.

Xander shrugged, "And I live in a world that's a movie. So what?"

Samantha opened her mouth and said with a grin, "That was a perfect logical comeback." She had tried to see the world and analyze it with logic. The last years and finally as Jack became a Jedi, as the one in Star Wars movie, had made her realized that logic was only the beginning. The universe was far too strange to be explained by logic alone.

-KNM-

Later after a welcome dinner

"So," Xander said, leaning back, watching the sun set behind the majestic mountain forest. "What has happened on Earth since the last time?" The girls were spending time with Samantha and Riley vanished with Cameron and Buffy, he apparently knew a good place if you wanted to dance.

Jack answered, "You for sure created a bee-hive here. Things have changed and yet most things stayed the same, but in different ways." He sighed a bit. "We managed to build the Wave-blaster you gave us the blue-prints on. Star Gate Units are the first units that use the pistol version as a standard side arm. It causes less damage than a normal gun of the same size, but on the other hand, the wave-blaster can hold more ammo in its battery than a normal pistol and a real prototype of a Blaster pistol, based on the same type you're using, is being tested. It blows up half the time, but we're getting there."

Xander blinked. "By the Force, how did you solve the problem that fast? It's how long since we left?" he asked.

"According to us, you have been gone for two and a half years," Jack said simply, "From what the kids said it was around a year and some months for you."

"And you've almost managed to create a Blaster pistol?" Xander asked, astonished.

Jack nodded, "You can thank the car industry for that." Seeing Xander's confusion, he explained, "We in the military screamed bloody murder when the President, with a silly grin on his face, decided to let the Wave blaster be sold on the open market," he snorted. "Best idea ever, I now say. Only a week after the first gun nuts had bought their first Blaster, the environmental nuts bought the power pack. As it's just a super-effective battery, they used it in electric cars."

Xander started to laugh, "And with the power-pack as fuel, electric car fuel efficiency made the Oil industry go belly up, correct?"

Jack replied, "Not without a fight, it didn't. For some reason China managed to steal or copy the design off the Wave blaster and with China no longer needing as much oil as before, there was a mayor loss of income for the oil companies. They of course tried to bribe a lot of senators and well, it was discovered. It's called Oilgate, now days. After that the President forced the oil lobby and the oil industry to shut up. Now, they couldn't keep the technology frozen in USA or Europe, if China already had it, and they couldn't force China to give up on the power pack tech or declare war. To dangerous as China had Nukes."

Xander looked at him, "Are you saying that the President gave China the information to create their own power pack?"

Jack shrugged, "If he did it, it would be treason. The funny part is that the power-pack they can build is the oldest version of the power-packs you gave us. We already managed to build some of the more advanced version," he grinned. All in all the USA economy was better than ever.

"It did stop the oil industry from hiding the technology that could threaten their monopoly. Well, that and the paranoid weapon users refused to give up on the new fun toys," he grinned. "The translator program you gave us," he said, opening his mobile, "was also spread. More than one company can use the tech on license. We even have some in our phones now."

Xander looked as Jack pushed a button and activated the translator. Testing it he tried speaking in a different language he knew. It didn't exactly work that well.

Jack grinned. "It can translate almost all Earth languages with at least 15 % accuracy in the beginning and it's a self learning program. Give it enough time around a language and it gets 100 % accuracy," he grinned. "You can also download translation patches on the web, if you want your own program to premaster a language directly. This Mobile phone is capable to be fluent in over four forms of communication. Neat right?" All thanks to the improvements in computers they had also gained from Xander and gang.

Xander snorted, "That's cool. What model is it?"

Jack smiled, "A Nokia mobile phone. They managed the mobile phone version first. We were creating a big ass portable translator unit the size of an old free style radio cassette player, able to translate up to fifteen languages fluent. Boom, the Nokia came out. Its limit is around four languages. It's easy to change the language you are using on it, though."

Xander nodded as he held the tiny phone. That was one area Earth was superior in than his home. Modular communication tech made to be good looking was not something they had back home. "Nice, real nice. What about the dolphins?" he asked.

Jack nodded, "You created another political hot potato there or would that be a hot fish? Once the translator was out, anybody could talk to them and talk they do. It's official now, Dolphins have human rights and protection. The fishing industry is screaming murder as many of them have been sued by Dolphin hired lawyers."

Xander blinked, "What?"

Jack nodded, "Yepp, seems like the fish adapted quickly. They stated the sea was theirs and they would not accept over fishing or toxic dumping in the sea. On the other hand, they would help humans develop fish farms, mining under the sea and work as rescue guards at bathing places for payment."

Xander blinked again, "What?"

Jack just grinned, "One of those things where reality actually is funnier than a lie." He waited as his Master gather his wits.

"So they hired lawyers," Xander said. "With what money?" he asked.

Jack grinned, "Gold doubloons and other sunken treasures only they know where to find. Of course now there are religious terror groups. Like THF, The Humans First. They believe that God gave Earth to humans and dolphins are a creation of the devil. More than one of those nuts has been arrested for murder, Dolphin murder. Sad to say not all of those bastards even suffered jail time. Some countries refused to accept the international human Dolphin rights."

"The big fish farms the dolphins had built and run with human help had made millions of fishermen unemployed, especially now as the rules of fishing are harder against over fishing. On the other hand, thanks to the fish farms, fish and crabs were now cheaper than before. So, the hungry civilians didn't complain at all," he explained. "Tomorrow we're going to bring the first military repulsor craft of Earth design here. It's going to be a blast." The repulsor tech had been slowly leaked out to the car and flight industry in hopes of making the civilian research create a rapid improvement. So far none of them were biting yet.

The two were silent for a moment, before Xander pulled up his training lightsabers. "Have you yours on you?"

Jack nodded and with a snap hiss, the two started a fight.

Around them the soldiers watched. Jack being a Jedi was a secret that had been badly kept. Nobody said anything, but way too many outsiders knew anyway.

If asked, they just said that Jack discovered some 'force' like abilities, that he trained others in the same and being a Star Wars geek he claimed to be a Jedi. So far there were only Mini-jack and Cassandra, but other students were being considered. Scary enough, it worked. Most believed he was that guy with the spooky abilities, who was a geek.

Of course, being one of the guys George Lucas called for input and ideas for his Star Wars movie did surprise others, especially his neighbors, when George dropped by for a visit.

With the rapid changes, dolphin talking, electric cars taking over and energy weapons being sold to all and sundry, nobody really cared that a nut case was training with a real lightsaber in his back yard.

Seeing two Jedi going at it on the landing platform with lightsabers on the other hand was another story. The soldiers soon surrounded the place, just watching the two moving much faster than normal humans.

-KNM-

An hour later

Xander asked, "What happened to your knee?" Jack had always had a bad knee and now he didn't.

Jack grinned. "A combination of Jedi healing trance, a Goa'uld regeneration coffin and a bacta cookie I had eaten just before they put me inside." He waved his hand, "I know those things create psychopathic behavior if used too much, but it was that or I'd have died. Doc said I'm physically fifteen years younger on the inside now."

Xander nodded, "I see." The coffin was a tech they'd decided not to take with them, too much risk of the darksiders abusing the ability and lightsiders going nuts. "Just be careful."

Jack nodded. "I will. Something about that coffin gives me the creeps every time it's used," he said, shivering.

Xander nodded, "It seems for every good thing we gave you, something bad happened. At least the weapons I gave you, that was supposed to protect against alien attack and which I suspected could cause much suffering on Earth, had lots of good side effects," he said, amused. "And the translator program, I knew that was a dangerous cookie. Knowing what a friend or enemy talks about is a double edged weapon."

Jack nodded, "At least all the things you have brought to this world have been in the spirit of helping and I don't think you'd let the Enterprise carry anything harmful to Earth."

"Of that you can be sure of," Xander said, grinning.

-KNM-

At the same time beside the Enterprise

A tiny hatch opened, as if by itself, unnoticed and a small group of long snakelike lizards crawled out. Only fifteen of them, their tail ended in a bone rattler, not completely unlike that of a rattle snake. The moment the lizards had landed on earth they crawled away to hide in and build a nest in the forest. Death-Rattler, a hyper aggressive poisons lizard, had arrived on Earth and would soon spread like rats. Unknowingly the Enterprise had given Earth's animal and human life a new and much hated gift, Death-Rattlers.

Behind them the tiny hatch closed itself, again.

-KNM-

At the same time

Riley could not keep silent anymore. "Alright the car is electric, I get that, but your side arm?" he asked as he, Buffy, Cameron and Daniel were sitting inside a restaurant, one used to the military eating there.

Cameron grinned and put the gun on the table, after he set the safety on and removed the power pack. "It's the Colt Phoenix wave blaster pistol. It's the Dragon Lightning guns baby brother. I use the Phoenix even if many like the Dragon for its potential for damage, but the Phoenix has more ammo."

Lightning guns used a bolt consisting of a package of charged sub atom of different charges, kept subtly apart by a magnetic field inside the bolt. Once it hits a target, a thundering sound is heard and the target looks not unlike he has been hit by lightning and exploded.

Riley said. "I heard and I used Lightning guns before, they're nasty. What's the difference in ammo?" he asked.

Cameron answered, "The Phoenix can hold up to 30 bolts in the mag. The Dragon can hold only 6 bolts. It does more damage, almost twice on organic targets wearing metallic armor. The down side is, with the right armor it's easy to protect yourself against Lightning guns. Plastic armor, like the plastic steel armor we have," he grinned. "Our so called storm trooper armor, right. It is what the stormies used, right?" He loved his own breast plate and helmet of that material. It was so easily colored with the right camouflage paint.

Buffy and Riley nodded. They both knew that. "Do the snakes have the correct armor?" he asked. "And yeah, the Plast steel is what the storm troopers and clone troopers used. I love it too," he grinned silly.

Cameron answered, "Only the head snakes have the right stuff. Their shields are too much for the Dragon to even touch. The rest uses the standard metallic based armor, making the Dragon gun even more effective against them. The bolts are actually attracted to the metal in the armor. I joke not, tests have showed that the bolt turns up to 10 degrees in the air just to hit the closest armor and you do not wanted to be inside it when it hits," he grinned. Earth soldiers had gained the reputation of being expert snipers, thanks to the lightning gun.

Buffy giggled. "How effective is the Phoenix?" she asked.

Cameron shook his head. "Not that good, the metallic armor holds. So I take armor piercing ammo and a normal gun, they're better. The good part is that the Goa'uld energy shield can be drained. Enough plasma bolts and the shield collapses and you can shoot the asshole. Takes about three mag's worth to do," he smiled. "They're experimenting with an under barrel-blaster gun."

Riley held the weapon. It had good balance and it looked more like an Earth weapon than a blaster. "What do you carry in the field?"

"I carry the standard rifle, a M16. Then a Phoenix and a Dragon as backup and side arm," Cameron explained.

"Love to test one of those later," Riley said.

Buffy nodded. "Are they difficult to use?" she asked.

Cameron answered her, "No, not really. Like a normal gun I guess. The thing is, if you fire too many times with the Dragon, it creates lots of smoke from the target and never fire the Dragon if you and the target are standing on a metal floor. Never do that. It's a shocking experience and it can kill you."

"The wave blaster, if used too often, creates a strange ripple effect from the hot air rising between you and the targets. That ripple effect is like transparent waves in the air as the light bends from the ripple. It makes aiming difficult, especially if you're inside where the air is still. Then it also gets hot quickly," he finished.

It was one thing that confused Buffy, "Hum, why do you have a wave blaster pistol with you? After all, you are out of uniform, right?"

Cameron replied to that, "Two reasons. One, Star Gate command like us to be ready, especially around you guys," he smiled as he kept going. "Second: A Blaster Stun gun is almost impossible to die from and they are just as good at putting a man down as a loaded pistol or a blaster on kill setting. So a license for carrying a dedicated stun blaster or having one at home is easier to get legally. Every military and police officer is encouraged to carry a stun blaster on their day off. It makes the crime level actually go down. Especially as the government has tightened the laws, punishments and licenses for owning or carry deadly weapons."

Buffy snorted. "That wouldn't stop the criminals from getting their hands on a gun," she said.

Cameron nodded, "It doesn't. More civilians on the other hand get their hand on stun blasters, as a safe form of home defense. Criminals who use and own deadly weapons on the other hand are getting harder punishment, often the death penalty. So many criminals are beginning to use stun guns too. The punishment is less serious for criminals who use or even just carry stun weapons than for those that carry deadly weapons."

Buffy nodded, "No death by weapon. No death as punishment."

Cameron snorted, "Not exactly, with the stun guns came around the punishment for using deadly weapons while doing illegal acts." He shrugged; a Blaster on stun setting was just as effective to put somebody down in his opinion.

Riley asked, "Why did they change the law and that fast?"

Cameron answered with a sad look, "A political assassination with an early Blaster rifle. The senators and the President got cold feet, as they couldn't find any evidence of who owned the blaster or did the shooting. Gun-powder leaves chemical traces. The bullet can be traced down to the gun that fired them. If you shoot a gun, smoke and shit sticks to your clothes and skin."

He snorted, "The Senator Charlie Frankel's assassin is still free and when the killings occurred, only three known Blaster rifles were in private hands inside DC, four were in police units and only twenty nine Blaster rifle existed in the world as far as anybody knew. All of the guns were found, no rifle was missing."

Buffy nodded, "And they couldn't detect which gun did the killing."

Cameron nodded, "So the Senators and the President got scared and a tiny change in the law was made and not a bad one if I say so myself."

Riley sighted and decided to change the discussion. "Now I just have to test the wave blaster," he said with a grin. "You can try my Thunderer if you like," he said with an evil smile that Cameron also soon had.

"What do you think about that movie we're going to see tomorrow?" Buffy asked, wondering as George Lucas himself and his current movie partner Spielberg had invited them to see two of the new Star Wars movies. The strange thing was that they could find NO information about the movie anywhere on the base.

Each of the Earthlings kept silent and just had a silly smile. Buffy suddenly blinked. Did she just think of the people as Earthlings?

If anything it felt like a set up.

Chapter 38

Later the next day

Dressed up in their new space cowboy outfits the gang walked inside the rebuild Hercules. The Hercules had become an experimental air plane. Equipped with a repulsor engine, the craft could land or start the way a helicopter did. At a height of fifteen or twenty meters the propeller engines activated and the repulsor landing system was put on light power, increasing the lift and range of the Hercules air plane.

It was surprisingly effective for a pure and simple toy. The engineers had been experimenting with it and it was the only one of its kind. A new version, the Hercules II, was being designed with repulsor and jet engines, instead of propellers. It was a craft they hoped would make the Osprey look like a joke.

Xander leaned back to enjoy the show. Buffy and Anakin explored the plane asking questions. Jaina and Danni did look a bit queasy. The Earthlings were up to something stupid.

Hours later the Hercules repulsor were turned on full power and the propeller engines turned off as the plane slowly hovered, spinning around clumsy over a landing place, and lowered itself down in a perfect four wheeled landing.

Buffy huffed. She didn't like the vibration or sound she'd felt from the repulsor engine during the start and landing. "The repulsor field is too tight. It's a tight field engine. They could have used one big industrial repulsor and two small maneuver repulsor instead." Only crafts like repulsor bikes and repulsor cars needed a tight field engine for higher speed and maneuverability. Big crafts like this and starships should use a bigger industrial field repulsor that gave more lift and perhaps a tight repulsor field engine as a maneuvering engine.

Xander and Jaina nodded. Anakin shook his head, "It's their first design. I think it's totally hyper."

Beside them an Earth engineer took notes.

"Using a tight field engine on a craft like this is foolish. It causes too much stress on the coils. A lower intense repulsor field engine like an industrial field engine would be more effective," Buffy said, looking at Xander like this was all his fault.

Xander shrugged, "They probably believe in high maneuverability in an air plane. Combining a low field engine with a tight field engine gives you, what?" he asked.

Jaina blinked then nodded. "Risk of field collapse," she answered.

Xander blinked, now he remembered there was some difficulty in combining the two fields, though not what or why. "Exactly and how do you solve the problem?" he asked, curious about the answer. If he only would remember...

Buffy sighed and said, "Of course, basic lesson. That's why they use a pulse repulsor field as a maneuver repulsor on big ship." She had totally forgotten that and it was a basic lesson in field engineering. How stupid of her.

Xander smiled. So that's why the repulsor maneuver systems looked the way they did. Now that she said it, he remembered reading about it somewhere. On the other hand he wasn't really an expert in repulsor crafts. Ion engine, hyper drives, energy shields, thank you so much. Repulsor he could handle, but honestly, Buffy was beginning to understand them better than he did. Any time he repaired the repulsor, he did it by the book. The Ion engine and hyperdrive he improvised on and did it by memory and instinct.

At the side the engineer had had enough. "Would any one of you know how to build one of those pulse repulsors?" he asked, looking hopefully at Xander.

He saw them all looking at him as if he would know that...

Xander said, "Ask Buffy. It would be a good lesson for the both of you." He swore the engineer was whining in pain.

Buffy smiled. Oh yeah, she'd worked with him and Samantha on a repulsor engine before. "Oh yeah, I know all about the doohickey field thingy. I'll show you." She blinked. Why was the engineer crying?

Dawn giggled.

Lexa snorted.

Giggling himself, Anakin said: "That wasn't nice of you Xander, using Buffy to torture the poor guy."

Willow agreed, "Yeah, Xander, the poor guy. Now you should show him without exposing him to Buffy's explanations again." She set her face in resolve mode. "Look, resolve face."

Xander sighed."Alright, but I have to warn you. I understand and can build an Ion engine. Buffy understand Repulsors better than I do," he frowned, "Actually, Anakin also has a better understanding of repulsors than I do."

Anakin blinked, thinking back. "Repulsors are so easy and you..."

Xander nodded, "Yeah, I could rebuild or repair a hyper drive blind folded. On Repulsors, I can only handle simple repairs. Buffy's skills there are far better than mine. I had no idea about the pulse repulsor," he smiled.

Jaina huffed and gave him a slap on the ribs, "You Meany, you made Buffy analyze what she said and give you an explanation."

Xander nodded without remorse, "Her first idea could be perfectly workable. It's not my fault that she understood that it didn't work."

"Alright kids, we've landed and are here now," Jack said and they walked outside to the Skywalker ranch.

"George, hi," Jack said, happily waving his hand.

George smiled, as always it was an honor to see Earth's first Jedi again.

Beside him stood his college friend and sometimes opponent in the movie world, Stephen Spielberg.

"Mr. Spielberg, it's an honor," Jack said.

"Master Alexander Harris Solo, it's a great honor," Mr. Lucas said, bowing to the man he knew was a Jedi Master from an alternate universe.

Xander smiled, "Please George, the honor is mine. All mine." Turning around, he smiled. "Mr. Spielberg, it's a great honor, too," he said in awe. In his birth reality George Lucas died before creating the movie Star Wars. It had been Babylon 5, Battle Star Galactica, Star Trek and some other SF series he grew up with back then. Indiana Jones, on the other hand, had been a childhood hero to him and Spielberg was the creator.

Later, after a light lunch, they gathered inside a movie theater.

Xander sighed. "I have a bad feeling about this."

Jaina nodded, she had one too and then the movie started to play.

-+-

Star Wars VII (Star Wars part 7) Tales of the Jedi Legacy: The End of Victory.

-+-

After almost two hours, in shocked silence, the audience saw the end of part 7 rolling up on the big screen.

Xander didn't know if he should laugh, cry or be ashamed. Beside him Lexa had already decided what she should do. Giggle, giggle my brother Warstar. Giggle, giggle.

Dawn decided to join in the giggling.

Jaina was so amused and embarrassed that she wanted to fall through the floor.

Riley looked irritated, until Buffy reminded him, giggling, that compared to what they did to Xander, letting a Hollywood pretty boy play him was nothing. He had actually become cool.

After a short break part 8 started and soon they were captured by the magic of Lucas and Spielberg, enjoying a familiar and yet alien story on the big screen in front of them.

-+-  
Tales of the Jedi Legacy: The Burden of the future

-+-  
As the movie was done they gathered around a gigantic table, loaded with a heavy burden of food on it. The greatest treasure of Earth delicatessens Xander, Willow, Buffy, Dawn, Riley and Lexa had seen in a long time.

"So Master Xander and Mistress Jaina, what did you think of it?" Mr. Lucas asked, smiling.

Seeing that Spielberg was curious about who they were, yet had said nothing, Xander sighed and levitated a bottle of wine to him, nodding to Danni who then turned off the holographic field that turned her red skin into a soft mocha brown color, making her look like a normal American with a mix of African and European forefathers.

Spielberg swallowed. He was one of the small numbers of people that knew Jack O'Neill was a Jedi, the real deal, but on the other hand he had no idea how the man had become one. Now he saw the heroes of the movie sitting around him.

The man Riley, with his dark black eyes, a man they had changed into an alien to make the story better. Mistress Danni the Zeltron and Jaina, Han Solo's daughter. Awesome, Han and Leia's children and Darth Vader's grand children were sitting next to him.

Xander opened his mouth and said, "I'm more surprised, flattered and shocked than I can express, but I understand why you changed my somewhat strange, blurry and confusing background." He smiled.

"You have made it into an epic story for sure," Jaina said, feeling humbled from the pure level off emotion the story had awoken inside of her.

Danni hugged her and gave her a small kiss. "Honey it wasn't that bad," making her wife smile.

Xander sulked. "What about my emotions, Danni?" he whined.

Danni just smiled in an evil way. "Not yet, they're far too amusing for now," she answered, grinning.

Xander sighed, not even his puppy dog eye attack seemed to work. "The story is good. No, actually it's a great story. You've managed to capture the spirit of what we told you and spun an epic story, yet created a familiar background around your small group of heroes. Heroes that are based on us and in some cases, almost copies of how we are. The core of the lesson I feel is in the story and in what our life has been like after the destruction of the Republic, is that life is change and growth and the force is life. Good or bad, it changes," his eyes glittered unnaturally between green and yellow and focused somehow on both Lucas and Spielberg at the same time. "The old crumbling nature of the Republic is brought forward in painful clarity, like an old oak tree rotten from the inside out, as the storm of change suddenly makes it fall. Creating not the end, but instead it created the place for a new beginning, a new future."

It was silent for a moment, and the two movie gurus nodded, as they thought about what he had said.

Xander poured some wine in his glass and held it up, looking at the light reflected in the blood red liquid. "A Jedi or a Sith are the greatest murderers or monsters that exist. As we meditate, we can see the future in better, different paths, and we can change it. Do that or do not do that. Whatever we choose, a future we have seen is destroyed and another one is born."

He looked at the wine in his glass, "What awful responsibility lies in that power. A true Jedi Master always tries to make as little negative changes as possible and to protect our loved ones. When trying to create a change, a Jedi Master always tries to do it using as little power as possible. A correctly placed tiny pump on the path of the wheel, a small push to set off an avalanche, a tiny whisper in the ear at the right moment," he said, smiling sadly. "Not that different from what a Darkside Master does. The only difference is why we do it. Healing, destruction, protection, domination, two sides of a broken coin. A coin, which is currently spinning in your world."

The two movie makers felt afraid for some reason. So did Jack O'Neill, as he realized that he was the spinning coin. No, the Force was the coin, he was the one that had tossed it and soon it would land. Would the light side or the dark side end face up?

"So what side will land face up? The light or the dark?" Xander said as his eyes locked down at Lucas, O'Neill and Spielberg. The three men somehow felt the Jedi Master must have three heads, as he seemed able to look them all in the eyes at the same time. "The future is always in motion, Yoda said, and the truth it is that a tiny rock can easily change the direction of the greatest object, if it's in motion."

There was silence again.

"The coin is moving, spinning in the air now," he looked at them. "George, the moment that you showed the world Star Wars, people, young dreamers all over the whole world, have been seeking for the coin. Jack, you and me, guided by the will of the Force, put the coin in motion. Now all of you have the chance to choose what side of the coin will land face side up. Light or dark, it is your choice." With that he slowly took a drink from the glass. He could feel the truth of the Force and the fact he had spooked George Lucas, Stephen Spielberg and Jack O'Neill.

Until that moment the idea of a Jedi waving a light saber around had been a fun thing. Waving a light saber around always looks like fun, until somebody loses their arm.

"Alright, that is scary. Way to take the fun out of a room," Jack said, as he took a sip of his beer. Pondering what Xander had said and feeling for the path of the future, the old soldier paled. "It's the truth, isn't it? I can change the future. Make the light or dark side dominant."

Xander nodded, "And by once again capturing the imaginations of the people of Earth, so can George. Actually, with them by your side Jack, the chances to improve the possibility that the right side of the coin lands face up are much higher."

George, not being stupid, swallowed a gravy drenched potato. "We also increase the chance the wrong side could land face up. Don't we?" he asked, remembering the holographic-picture he had seen from the real Star Wars in Xander's ship, the Enterprise.

The silence was almost thick as concrete. "The Force has always existed. Force sensitive humans also exist. Force sensitive beings able to manipulate the Force are rare, but they do exist. Eventually, one will find the path they need to train in order to use it. All of you have a great chance now. You can choose who, where and when the true Jedi Knight's of Earth are to be."

Jaina nodded, "And like all gifts, it's equally a burden and a pain, a terrible responsibility you have been given or taken on your shoulders and life."

Jack stood up and swallowed. He walked out from the room, looking pale and sick. "I... I got to go to the toilet," he said, almost falling as he rushed out.

George looked at all the delicious food that now tasted like spider webs to him. "I am a story teller, not a savior of the world. I never asked for that kind of responsibility."

Spielberg shook his head. "I don't think responsibility is something you ask for. It's something you accept or run from as it's forced on you."

Xander nodded, that was a good way of saying it. "I totally agree. The future will always judge you on how you handle the responsibility you are faced with, not the responsibility that you ask for."

George sighed. "What should I do?" he asked.

Xander's face was smiling a bit as he turned to Spielberg.

The man frowned a bit and said in an unsure voice, "Ask Jack for help?"

"Correct. Once Jack has his act together, Jaina is going to show him the basics of Jedi Battle meditation. Using that in combination with what you two do, he could guide you, and your talent could shape the future."

"Good wine," he said. "Really good."

Standing outside, Jack O'Neill listened and slowly walked back in. "Nice toilet," he lied, as he had just stopped outside the door. All of them knew that of course, but nobody said anything about it.

Xander looked at Jack and said, "Calm down Jack. All of us carry the future of the world on our shoulders. The greater our footsteps are, the greater the changes we can make in the world."

Jack nodded, "And George has big feet, ever since Star Wars. What size?"

Xander smiled slightly and said, "We're talking about oil tankers here."

George looked both amused and insulted, his feet weren't that big. "And soon Jack, your shoes will be my size and larger."

Jack said, while smiling slightly. "I hate buying new shoes."

A slow laughter filled the room, even as the people inside felt little or no reason to laugh.

Later after dinner, as they had entered the library to relax, Xander could see with amusement that the lightsaber he had given George was in a trophy case, among other mock versions, mostly lightsabers, which have been used in the movies, or copies of them.

Where his wandering eyes ended up could not be hidden nor was he trying to hide his amused snickering.

George blushed as he shrugged. "It seems like all fan boys try to give me lightsabers for some reason," he said, walking up and unlocking the trophy case. "Inside this one I keep the real pressured ones, those made in the movie or given to me by famous people." He slowly removed Xander's gift. "Yours on the other hand is," snap hiss he activated it, "the only real one."

Spielberg, who had been told that a real Jedi named Jack existed and knew Jack had a real lightsaber and therefore had decided to help George Lucas to make the six new movies better than ever, didn't even look surprised George had one also.

The reason why he knew was a long story involving Jack O'Neill and a Goa'uld who infiltrated Earth trying to find out the truth about where Earth's sudden burst of new technology came from. Somehow they ended up as guest actors and the rest was a grim, confusing and highly amusing story for all involved.

They were recording the movies about the life of Anakin Skywalker, and the Clone Wars. George was thinking of including a race called the Gungan and he himself felt that that would have been a mistake.

"Incredible," Spielberg said. "Why didn't you show me that one?" He almost complained, reaching out with his hand. George sighed as he handed over the blade to Spielberg, who carefully tested it. As the night grew older, it was finally time for them to return to base.

Xander did also get a copy of the movie to return home with. He just knew Luke -evil- Skywalker and his father in law Han -better ship- Solo would have a ball and make fun of him again seeing it.

-KNM-

The next morning

As the joined military troops sat down for breakfast, Xander, Jaina, Lexa, Dawn and Anakin joined them.

Danni, Willow, Riley, Buffy and Rona had taken an early drive into town, shopping and enjoying themselves while torturing poor Riley by using him as a cargo mule. Alright, they were going to abuse the NSA agents playing bodyguards too, forcing them to carry stuff.

The food was not the greatest, but they did enjoy the company on the base. Teal'c and Cameron were nice to talk to and Jack and Samantha were really interesting.

A full dinner later, a strange sound was heard.

Xander looked up. "That was the incoming gate alarm?" he asked, if he remember correctly.

Jack nodded, "I didn't think we had anyone booked for today."

Samantha looked around. "What? Is it my turn?" she asked seeing the rest of her team nod, she sighed. "I got a bad feeling about this." Looking around, "Happy?" she gave them an icy star.

Sure, she was on base duty because of her knowledge in repulsors and hyper-drives, but SG1 still counted her as one of them. She saw the Doc something, a rather silent girl, serving as member of SG1, if she only could remember her name.

Doctor Alison Porter smiled as she listened to her team as they talked around things. She was a bit sad over the difficulties she had with becoming part of the team. She and Teal'c had indeed ended up as close friends. The two enjoyed spending time in comfortable silence together.

Her psychologist was helping her trying to get her to be more social and out going again, something she had lost when her father died because of cancer. She had become shy and silent. It had felt as if a part of her had died and been destroyed. Now, with a real Jedi in the room, the young doctor could not hold her tongue any longer. "Mr. Xander. I'm Miss Porter. Alison Porter, part of SG1. I've wondered why so many of your machine vehicles are animal shaped, like the walkers, when you have access to repulsor crafts?"

Xander smiled, turning his attention to the young girl. He blinked as he realized the young doctor was most likely three or four years older than he was. She still felt younger in his opinion then he felt himself to be. "A question Buffy would answer better and in more detail than I could. The simple reason is space travel and different worlds." He took a sip of hot chocolate. "The more correct answer is that different planets have different gravity wave frequencies and field densities. That makes it easier for the field density to damage the repulsor."

She nodded as he continued. "It creates a feedback that damages the repulsor coils and the engine. Big time repulsors like those in the ships are almost immune."

Alison nodded, "So you use walkers. Still the question remains, why not wheeled crafts?"

Xander replied, "Once you solve the balance problem, walking crafts can move over almost any terrain without going slower. Wheels tend to slow down or be stopped by swamps, mountains and forest terrain."

Jaina smirked, as she calmly reminded them about a well known fact. "There is a reason most beings in the galaxy move on legs of one kind or another," she said looking at them. Alison, there was something about her. Then she felt it. The girl had suffered some grief and she unknowingly used the Force to hide behind it. She quickly whispered that to Xander, using Huttese.

Xander slowly grinned as the only response that he had heard her, "In fact, in the latest reality we visited, they had real funny all terrain going vehicles that we bought. Let's load them out and show you."

Jaina started to giggled.

-KNM-

A short moment later at the Enterprise landing place

Jack, Teal'c, Cameron, Alison and Samantha waited outside the ship as the cargo hatch opened. Suddenly they suddenly heard a cry: "Hi ho and away!" and leaping out of the cargo hold came a green yellow metallic robot horse with Xander sitting on it.

The horse raced away at a mind boggling speed. It was not at full speed, only 180 Km/h for a mile. Then Xander turned back.

Jack stared. The whole base stared as the Jedi Master was riding faster than most cars would be able to move over rocks and between trees on the back of a robot horse.

Xander made the horse slow down to a stop with a grin. "In a parallel reality they used these robot steeds. They are able to run up to 200 km/h for four hours and at slower speeds, like 100 km/h, for a day or more," he said, jumping of the horse. "Thanks guy," he said.

The horse nodded. "You are welcome. Robot steeds like me are also able to move over almost any terrain without being slowed down. Our hoofs are adaptable, able to run over soft and deep snow, true swamp or climb hills even humans have difficulties to climb," it said as it walked inside.

The Star Gate members stared.

Xander blushed. "Um yeah, they have an AI installed." His grin was pure evil. Even if they were slower than his beloved swoops, he liked his robot steed.

Jack mumbled, "- I'm stunned. That was like a cartoon come to life."

Xander tried not to say anything, as he had a vague childhood memory of seeing a Galaxy Rangers cartoon on TV once.

Jaina nodded. "They're not bad. They're multi environmental capable, highly movable way of getting around on a wild terrain, if you move between many different worlds."

Alison asked, "You said heavy engines like those in the star ship are immune. Why not install more of those and use them to get around?"

Xander replied, "They're slow moving, repulsor barges and the like. Sure, you could build a big repulsor tank. It would be clumsy, but would work. Like all repulsor coils, it would still be stressed if on alien worlds though."

Jack grinned, "In other words, walkers are great. Even if you use clumsy repulsors, they can get hurt by a different gravity field, and if a walker cannot be used, you still have them as backup."

Xander nodded, looking at the horse, "That robot design over there, believe it or not, is one of the most superior ways of locomotion a small scout unit can have. Almost no terrain can stop it."

Alison nodded, as she thought about it. "Perhaps we could buy real horses for the Star Gate program. Most of the worlds we visit have human life, so our four horses should survive there as well."

Xander continued to talk. This time Samantha was taking notes on the leg suspension designs most walkers used. Jaina helped as she searched in her pocket computer and showed designs.

Behind them a soldier talked to Cameron and Jack.

"Damn it," Jack swore. "We have a situation off world. One of the teams is encountering strange opposition and they wish for SG 1 and the local Jedi to help them."

Hmm, Xander said to himself as he turned and watched Dawn, Lexa and Anakin. "I think this time a different team is going. Jack, you stay here, Jaina is going to teach you some tricks." He smiled at Cameron. "You're going to have the honor of having Anakin, me and also the terrible two with you."

"Terrible two?" Cameron asked in shock.

The so called terrible two blinked and turned around. (Cue in dramatic or amusing songs.)

"We're going where and why?" Dawn said.

"Yeah, why?" Lexa added.

Xander just grinned. "Young Jedi student Dawn, you are to follow your Master on a mission. Lexa, perhaps it's time to see how much your PSI power have improved. Don't you think?" he said.

Lexa and Dawn nodded and then turned. "We better get ready," they said as they hurried inside.

"Um, is this a good idea?" Anakin asked.

Jaina glared at him. How could he let the two most irresponsible people on the Enterprise out on a potential dangerous mission?

Xander just ignored them and said, "I'm hoping if those two get to go on an adventure, they might seek out less trouble without anyone there to look after them."

Jaina nodded. "Good in theory," she acknowledged.

Xander nodded. "Let's talk to the general. Jack, with me," he said, taking command. "The girl Alison Porter is gifted in the Force. Currently she is unknowingly using the Force to hide herself, out of sadness and loss."

"Crap. So what am I supposed to do?" Jack asked. He was already training Jonathan, his clone, damn it. Alright, he himself was, according to Xander, already a Jedi. What he needed was experience and Jonathan was learning as he did, at a mind boggling speed. Soon he would have nothing to teach him and the library of knowledge Xander had given him was so large that he had not mastered even a quarter of what was in there.

Xander just walked beside him.

"She is using the Force untrained, by herself," Jack said. "Meaning she is strong and talented. Help me here, Master," he whined.

Xander shrugged, "I could say strong and talented myself. What I really would say is she needs guidance and training." He snorted, "The fact that she uses the Force to hide behind it is a clear sign that she needs help, like yesterday."

Jack sighed, "I wondered why I never could remember her name." Focusing now, he did remember it. Nelly Walter, no wait Alison Porter. "I have to do it," he said.

Xander once again shrugged. "Not at all, it's all up to you," he said. "But the sign is there, she is learning by herself unknowingly, listening and reading and improving as she is a believer in the Force."

A groaning sound was heard. "Crap," Jack knew it. He had only the alternatives between bad or worse, and then just bad choices once again.

Inside the Enterprise Lexa had put her armor on and was now standing in front of the Type-Five recharger, which would charge up her badge and implant it with more bio-energy.

For some reason she was afraid. This was her first mission and for some reason, she was like a scared little girl, afraid of her own charger. She had faced darksiders without flinching and yet she was afraid of a recharging unit, or perhaps the memory she had of her master. She shivered at the memory of the kidnapping and the short flashes of pain she felt when he implanted her with a malfunctioning implant.

The new implant she now had was in perfect working order. Yet she was afraid.

Outside she could hear the joy in Dawn's voice, always happy. Growling a bit, irritated at herself, she stepped inside. "Activate," a short order was given and suddenly five pillars of light surrounded her, supercharging her implant. "Typical, five pillars of light, such a cheesy design on this charging unit," she complained with a smile.

Dawn poked her head in. "Come on, are you ready or not?" she whined. "We're going on a trip. This is going to be so cool, right?" and then her head vanished, as she rushed away to pester Anakin.

Lexa snorted out a short laugh. Always happy, irritatingly happy, that was Dawn. On the flip side, Dawn also made the guys and girls around her happy and feel better and she trusted you more than anybody in their right mind would trust another being.

If Dawn was your friend, she would trust you with her whole life and more. It was an awesome responsibility. Thinking about it, Lexa knew there was nothing she would do to betray that trust.

Grabbing her helmet she walked out and froze silently in terror.

O no, she paled as she saw the most awful sight in the entire galaxy. Anakin softly grabbed Dawn's shoulder and then he kissed her.

She had lost.

Dawn was the winner and she had lost. Trying to hide the tears, she walked by.

It didn't work. Dawn happily rushed up to her. "You won't believe it! He kissed me!" Dawn mused a moment and then she shocked Lexa's world. "Now we have to get him to kiss you too," she finished.

Lexa and Anakin screamed at the same moment, "WHAT?"

Dawn looked confused. "What? What?"

"I better get packing," Anakin said as he hurried away.

Dawn and Lexa rolled their eyes, chicken.

"Normal girls don't cheer their boys to kiss another girl," Lexa said.

Dawn replied, "Xander does."

"He's not normal," Lexa said, irritated. "In fact, his girls are not normal."

Dawn nodded. "Are we normal?" she asked, as her eyes looked seriously at Lexa.

Lexa swallowed. "I... no, we are not," she said, looking away.

Dawn smiled with tears in her eyes. "I know you love him. I love him and you are my friend, so I'd rather leave him so that you are happy than see you unhappy Alexandra. Why can't we do like your brother does?"

She frowned, "I meant like his wives do, the two of us having one boy, not each of us having two boys?" That was so much better explained.

R3, R6, even R8, Anakin's more silent droid, looked on with interest.

"We... it's not... What would mom and dad say?" Lexa asked.

Dawn replied, "It's our life." 'Please don't say no. I do not want to see you hurt,' Dawn was thinking inside her mind. A painful fear, something she was unused to, filled her heart.

"He would never go for it," Lexa said.

Dawn grinned a sadistic smile, "Who says he has a choice? Let's go and kiss him, both of us."

Lexa giggled and cried, "You are crazy Dawn. Alright, I don't want to lose our friendship, you bitch."

"That's Miss Bitch to you," Dawn said with a smile. This felt like Christmas and a birthday rolled up together.

The two girls hurried and a moment later they stopped again. "Wait a moment," Dawn said.

Lexa nodded and asked, "What?"

Dawn replied to her, "Xander, Danni, Jaina and Anakin have all turned a year older and all had a birthday party. Shouldn't we have a birthday too?"

Lexa hummed, "Hmm, yeah like, five and six months after Anakin's birthday."

The two girls stared in shock at each other. They had forgotten their own birthdays. It was a month ago and nobody, not even they themselves, remembered that they should have celebrated their birthdays.

-KNM-

Anakin relaxed while petting his own cybersteed. "I'll never ever understand females," he said when two blurs jumped in and started to hug him, saying strange things and whined. "What is it?"

Lexa and Dawn answered at the same time. "It's terrible. We have forgotten our sweet sixteen birthdays and we decided that you are our boyfriend," the last thing was filled in by Dawn.

Anakin did what any man would do. Seek a way to run in fear, "Huh?"

Dawn sighed. "He's not a very smart boyfriend," she complained.

Lexa nodded. "Let's explain it to him using small words. We have forgotten that we have turned 16 years old. You are almost half a year older than us." She saw that Anakin nodded and Dawn continued. "So we decided that you are our boyfriend," she finished and found that that was perfectly logical.

Anakin felt the pain in his head. "I'm your combined boyfriend because you two and us have forgotten about your birthday?" he asked. What was happening and what would they do, if he forgot Christmas? Hire a whole strip club?

The two girls roared out, "NO. Are you stupid?"

Anakin felt like crying, "That's what you said."

Boys... If she could strangle them all, she would, Lexa thought. "No, we decided you are our boyfriend because we are best friends and do not wish to break that up. Not even for you," she glared at him.

"Yes Miss. I understand," he said in pure terror.

Dawn nodded, "Good boy. Then we remembered that we have forgotten about our birthdays. Perfectly logical."

Anakin nodded. "Yes," he said and thought about why they couldn't be attacked by a dark side army or something else he actually knew how to deal with.

"He is a good boy, right? Yes you are," Lexa said as she gave him a hug and a kiss. This housebreaking a boyfriend was much easier than Dannie said it was.

Anakin nodded, while asking himself what was happening, should he be happy, afraid or both? Well, Lexa was kissing him, that's one for happy and Dawn seemed to approve. That was one for afraid, happy or maybe both.

"From this moment on my life is totally out of my control, isn't it?" he asked.

The two girls looked on with surprise and some pride. "He really is smart," Lexa said.

Dawn nodded, "Yes Anakin, from this point on your ass is ours. Resistance is futile."

Anakin sighed. "Just promise me, that you will protect me from female and male Zeltrons," he said worriedly. He had seen the glint in Danni's eyes.

His two girlfriends nodded and were happy. He was such a good boy wonder. Now, if they could get him to fetch...

Hiding nearby, Jaina was giggling to her herself. R6 was sending her a recording and this was worth gold. She knew that monkey see, monkey do... Apparently that went for younger sisters and brothers too.

A moment later she was thinking of letting them know she was there. Then she scrapped the idea and sneaked away, letting poor Anakin have whatever dignity he could have, with those two bossing him around. If people only knew how much she and Danni bossed Xander around behind closed doors, they would tell the animal protection groups or something. She giggled as she vanished away.

-KNM-

Later inside the mountain

General Hank Landry watched things helplessly, as the Jedi Master arranged and re-arranged his teams, letting Jack stay back for special training and allowing two fifteen, no wait, according to Jaina, sixteen year old girls and a sixteen year old boy on a deadly mission to an alien world.

If it wouldn't be for two things, he'd have put his foot down long ago. But firstly, those kids had been on more alien worlds and dimensions than most of the soldiers under his command, combined, had traveled to, and second, for some reason he could not imagine himself saying no, when given a direct order from a Jedi Master. The boy was oozing out a command presence. If Xander would be going for President, he knew who he would vote on.

Near the gate stood Xander waiting, when one of soldiers asked, "Is that the sound of hoofs what I hear?"

Xander slapped his own face. He had hoped to leave those buckets of rust behind. Sure, they were useful, damn useful even, but he felt stupid riding on one. "It's only an all terrain robotic vehicle we own," he said diplomatically and there they rode in, with his horse beside them.

"Thank you Dawn, Lexa and Anakin. The trouble is, how are Cameron, Alison, Teal'c and Daniel going to move?" he said, hoping they would not say what he suspected that they would say.

Dawn replied, "That's easy, master." She perked up, "Our horses can easily carry two people."

Damn it. She had an answer for everything Xander thought. Now he had to ride and feel stupid. He smiled, "Good idea." In theory, it was a great idea, but the shear amount of knight on a shining horse jokes made him sick to his guts.

At least Jack wasn't here.

"Wow, you sure look like a shiny knight on a horse, only a bit yellowish and green. Where you sick this morning, Sir?" Cameron said with an evil smile.

Xander sighed. He got no respect, absolutely no respect. "At least I'm not a pale rider coming after you," he said, smiling back.

Cameron blinked. "Why does that sound ominous?" he worried.

Daniel smiled, "Read the bible." Turning to Xander, "Who goes where?" he asked.

Xander replied, "I'm more or less in charge of Anakin and his terrible two, so Alison, you and me." He almost called her Alice. "Cameron, you are in charge of the rest, so you ride with Anakin. He's my second in command."

The officer nodded.

The moment the gate opened the group rode away.

"Hi ho, Red lightning, and away," Lexa yelled as she rode her silver colored horse into the water like center of the gate.

"Go Jolly Jumper," Dawn said, as the robot horse, painted white with black spots, followed.

A nearby soldier smiled, "So that's where I recognized the horse from."

"Rock n Roll, Lucky Luke," a second soldier roared out, as Dawn's robot steed, with Teal'c sitting behind her, vanished inside the vortex that was the Star Gate.

One by one they appeared on an alien world. For most beings this would be an awesome moment, which would inspire stories you would tell your grandchildren. For this group of people it was another day at the boring office.

For the Jaffa guarding the gate it was the four horsemen of death arriving.


	12. Chapter 39 to 43

Note: Tx to Inachis and Hawklan for all their help.

Chapter 39

And behold. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder. COME. I looked and watched before me was a white horse. Its rider held a bow and he was given a crown and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.

Chilled by the gate, the bodies of the cyber steeds steamed as the cold met the hot air around them. In front of the Jaffa was a white steel horse, glittering in the sun above it. It was a terrible sight to behold, as was the armored female warrior sitting on top of it. Behind her sat an armored Jaffa holding on for his life. In her hands she held a big gun and a sword of glowing light.

For the shocked Jaffa on the ground it looked like an insect with pale golden skin and a demon wearing hard golden armor, riding on the biggest white horse they had ever seen.

Beside her was a second sight of terror.

When the lamb open the second seal, I heard the second living creature say COME then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the Earth and to make men slay each other. To him was given a huge sword.

The hoofs of Red Lightning sparked as Lexa rode up besides Dawn, activating her Mimbari fighting pike and making use of her psi skills, preparing to use kinetic strike to enhance the physical energy of every hit she made with the pike. Instead of feeling as if they have been hit by a pike wielded by a strong girl riding on a horse, her victims would feel like they'd gotten hit by a flag pole being wielded by a gorilla riding on an elephant.

In her left hand she held a heavy pistol, similar to the first rider.

Behind her sat Daniel, who felt like he was going to be sick. He hated the new armored uniforms they had to wear. In addition, riding a horse through the Stargate? He got travel sick just by walking through it.

The Jaffa trembled again, as a smoking red horse stood before them, and on its back was a pale red armored female, with a glittering red breast plate. In one of her hands was suddenly a glittering spear like object and a smaller pistol was held firmly in the other hand.

Behind her sat a pale human with a sick look on his tormented face and in his eyes. It filled even the hardest mind with pity.

When the lamb opens the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, Come, I looked and there before me was a black horse, its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creature saying, a quarter of wheat for a day's wage, and three quars of barley for a day's wages and do not damage the oil and the wine.

And in front of them stood a dark green, almost black, horse with pale yellow legs and head, its body glittering in the light. On it sat the greatest sight of terror. An armored warrior in green and yellow, and in each hand he held a sword of light as he stormed out of the gate. Behind him was a fair maiden trembling from the cold of the journey, obviously full of terror as she clearly had been kidnapped by a demon.

When the lamb opens the fourth seal I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, COME, I looked and there before me was a pale horse, its rider was named Death and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power of a fourth of earth to kill by sword, famine, plague and by the wild beast of the earth.

Riding his pale white horse with his Vader inspired armor, Anakin burst through the gate, ending up next to the rest. Cameron sitting behind him was just about to say something when the Jaffa squealed like school girls and ran away as fast as their legs could carry.

As the last Jaffa vanished Daniel turned to Teal'c. "That's never happened before," he said in surprise, he even had gotten over his sickness at witnessing that.

In the forest they could still hear the sound of screaming and running Jaffa.

Xander blinked. "I thought we would have to fight," he said surprised and shrugging. "You learn something new every day."

Cameron said, "Never look a gift horse in the mouth. No insult meant to our robotic four footed friends. Just get on with the mission." He tried to scratch himself, but the plast-steel armor protection built inside his uniform made it difficult. The armor only protected vital parts. They had a full battle version that was almost never used.

They nodded as they rushed away to rescue the stranded team.

-KNM-

Later, deeper in the forest

Dawn looked around the camp. "So what is our mission?" she asked.

Cameron replied to her question, "This is planet ALX-6485-2558." Seeing the disbelief in the gang's eyes, he defended himself. "It's the egg heads that named it."

Anakin shook his head. "It's now planet Alx in the Alx system," he said, glaring at Cameron. "Until we ask the natives what they call it anyway."

Dawn and Lexa nodded. It was insulting to let a planet be named by a random string of numbers and letters.

Cameron nodded in agreement. "This is the planet Alx in the Alx system. Team SG12 was sent over here to negotiate with the natives about a treaty. Everything was going fine, then something happened. The natives got angry and the Goa'uld arrived."

Xander looked at the team, waiting. He was about to ask the question as Anakin beat him to it. "Is there anything more?" the young Jedi asked.

Cameron nodded, "Yes, there is. One of our guys survived and escaped. It seemed like the Goa'uld attacked the planet. On his camera we noticed that the ship must have been using some kind of a weapon. The digital recording in the camera had a strange disruption. So the techs believed that the ship used some kind technology that disrupted the recording and created the situation." He quickly continued, before they could ask what situation.

"Suddenly two members of SG-12 started to argue with each other. The new guy and one of the regular guys. Then the natives suddenly attacked the SG-12 team and other strangers, new comers and even friends."

He took a breath of air as he continued. "The rest of the team rushed away to the hills, leaving one member of the team wounded and much of their equipment behind. After finding a place to hide in the hills, they send for help, while trying to get their equipment and lost team member back. They discovered that the Goa'uld had landed and they once again felt strange. This time they entered a panic state and the team rushed away in fear," he said with disgust. He had seen the recording.

One thing the new uniforms had was a micro camera with 29 hour recording capacity on a small memory stick, an USB memory thingy. They had to change the memory thingy around every 29 hours.

"So our mission is to find the missing team, their equipment and see what kind of weapons those wacky Goa'uld are playing around with," he finished.

Lexa frowned. "What did the jamming look like?" she asked. If she was correct, this was something she had seen both in the Galaxy Rangers universe and her own.

Cameron shrugged. "Why?" he asked her and then gave the girl a photo where they could see the jamming on. He could see the girl take a deep breath. She knew something

Alison nodded. "Yes, why?"

Lexa frowned. "Use the digital camera you carry, record me and I'll show you," she said.

As they obeyed her, she used her recently mastered kinetic vision and activated her kinetic shield. "Just keep filming," she said.

After five minutes of recording she stopped.

"Now wind back and play it," she said.

They saw the strange disruption on the recording.

Cameron looked at her and asked, "Hey, what did you do? That looks like our recording."

Lexa nodded. "The Goa'uld are using a PSI attack. Terror or paranoia. Something a strong PSI can use on one or perhaps four people." Unless they use PSI enhancing machines or PSI bombs, a theorized weapon in her reality.

"This was on thousands, hundreds of thousands of people," Cameron said.

"A PSI bomb or a human inside a PSI enhancing machine, perhaps PSI cannons?" Lexa mused.

"Could you explain that, please?" Teal'c asked her.

The girl nodded. "A PSI user's ability can be recorded, even measured. Simple PSI shields to protect a person from a mind reader were developed and PSI dampeners that crippled a PSI power. Even small PSI enhancers were developed in the reality I was born in, all using tech equal of your Earth."

"If that's the case, could PSI abilities be copied using a machine?" Cameron asked.

Lexa smiled grimly. "Exactly, that's what the guys that know stuff say. During my journey I had cybernetics installed against my wishes. Those improved and strengthen my own PSI abilities. A PSI bomb is just that, a machine with PSI ability. Imagine a bomb, which instead of exploding suddenly puts everybody around it, for a second or less and for miles around it, in a state of anger or panic. Use paranoia and make the enemy turn against each other. Like what happened here. A cannon could do the same thing, but it's a focused ray."

Xander nodded. It felt right and he was proud of his sister.

"A ray, that can be focused over a single area and keep on shooting?" Dawn asked.

Lexa nodded. "A PSI bomb uses, according to the theory, a strong energy source and a PSI generator, which is overloaded during the activation and thus creating a super strong PSI field."

She took a breath. "A PSI cannon comes in two forms. One that creates a continuous field around it and the second creates a focused ray or a field in one direction. All I saw was the cannon, they hadn't yet invented a PSI-Bomb or at least that what they said."

"So how do we protect ourselves?" Teal'c asked.

Xander frowned and thought about the parts that he would need and, yes then he could perhaps fix or build a simple shield. He did study those PSI-shields after he found Lexa, mom and dad.

Before he had the chance to say anything, Anakin beat him to it. "I think I can fix a shield. Lexa and I were studying the design on PSI enhancers and PSI-shields. I think with her help, if we get a chance to use your computers and one radio, we can work something out," he said, petting his repair and pocket factory set.

Grabbing some food to eat was the only way Xander could hide his smile of pride. "You do that. I think I might remember something about those things," he said, sounding a bit unsure of himself.

"Xander, brother of mine, I think we can handle it," Lexa said.

Dawn nodded. "And I'll stay out of their way," she said a bit too happily.

The two young geniuses grabbed a computer and a radio and started to work. Anakin's micro factory got a hard night, working and rebuilding micro circuitry.

'Where the Sith-spit did Anakin get his paws on a cool thing like that?' Xander asked himself.

Seeing the look of envy Anakin smiled. "I got it from Lando years ago. It's not that good, compared to the tools we have in the ship. In the field its only real use is micro circuitry. It's hyper for building or rebuilding them."

Xander snorted. "Yes, they can be difficult without the right power tool to create."

As the cool stuff was being build, Cameron turned to Xander. "Jack said that you told him that by being able to see the future and change it, Jedi and Sith are murdering the future path they chose to stop. Do you really think that you are a murderer?" he asked.

Xander looked at him. "That's one way of putting it, but no. It's a case of preemptive defense. Still, it's an awful responsibility."

He smiled and said, "In a way, this is all my fault." He could see the team look at him in shock. "The moment I gave Earth the ability to strike back and strike back effectively, I knew the risk existed that the enemy would also develop new weapons. The officers on Earth knew that also."

"Well it sucks to have your powers then," Cameron said, grinning, which made Xander blink in surprise and then yell, "Hey!"

Alison giggled. "How effective is the PSI shield?" she asked.

Xander smiled. Subtly encouraging Alison to speak and to be curious had worked. She'd stopped using the force to hide herself. "It improves your own natural ability to resist a PSI attack and if you don't have the ability, it grants you one, for as long as you wear it."

One by one a silver badge mounted inside a headband was built, creating the shield.

Xander took his own shield and inspected it with a skilled eye. "Hmm. You used reverse polarity on the primary cerebral interface and is that a small buffer I see between them?" he said, confused.

Anakin blinked. "You know about those?"

Shaking his head ruefully, he then nodded. "Yes, I found out that you get an 80% improvement if you do that. It creates a negative loop when a PSI attacks you. That loop becomes like a secondary PSI shield. If the buffer system fails on the other hand, the negative loop collapses and would increase the power of any attack. "

Xander mused as he studied it. Then he put it on. "I think I understand what you're saying. How strong is the buffer system then? Would we be in danger if they collapse?"

Anakin grinned. "The primary cerebral interface would burn out before that could happen."

Xander smiled at him. "It's almost impossible for me to explain how impressed I am with you two, right now."

Anakin and Lexa blushed. "He/she did most of the work," they said at the same time.

The SG-1 team put the headbands on.

"How strong are these shields?" Cameron asked.

Lexa shrugged. "They just improve your own natural ability or natural resistance to a PSI attack. I would say perhaps about a 10 - 25 % increase in your minds strength. The negative loop, once activated by an attack, should increase your ability to resist to around 90-105 %."

Daniel nodded to himself. "They improve the will of your own mind to resist a mental attack, correct?" he asked.

Anakin nodded. "Indeed," he said, still focusing on one of the head bands.

Teal'c looked surprised at the teen using his favorite word.

"So your protection would simply increase 10-25 % using the shield?" Daniel asked.

Lexa nodded. "Yes, any mental attack on your mind is resisted by will power and mental strength. The smarter and the more stubborn you are, the stronger your natural PSI shield is, unless you're one of those people, who lack the ability to resist at all. If you have your own mental ability to defend against it or can use the Force, then those can be used as an extra level protection."

"Then Samantha Carter O'Neill would have a formidable natural shield indeed. She is both brilliant and stubborn," Teal'c said.

More than one snickered at that.

As Alison got her shield she started to look at it.

"How are they fueled?" Alison asked in confusion.

Anakin grinned. "I used a small thermo generator I scavenged from my tool kit." He always had some useful parts in there.

With that he packed the stuff together and hid it inside his armor's many pockets.

Alison swallowed. A thermo generator? "What is a thermo generator?"

Dawn shrugged. "It's like a solar cell. It just uses heat instead of light. It's kind of useful in armor."

Cameron nodded. "Let's rest and tomorrow we will go find them," he said. It had taken the kids hours to build those shields.

Note: A big thank you to Inachis and Hawklan for helping out with this chapter.

Chapter 40

Later the next morning, after being awoken early and eating MRE's

"Ugh, this is not food," Dawn, Anakin and Lexa complained.

Xander rolled his eyes. "I'm sure this is against the Geneva Convention on torture," he voiced his opinion ironically, in a slightly more mature way of whining.

Cameron grinned. "Nope. It's only against the Geneva Convention to torture prisoners of war." That earned some laughter, even as they tried to eat the supposed "food". "Besides, compared to the old field rations, this is food fit for a party."

Later, after the torture, also known as breakfast

Cameron pushed a button on his radio twice. "Now we wait. If they have the radio on standby, the answer should be along," suddenly the radio beeped, "about right now. They're in that direction," he said, pointing south and then turned and pointed north. "And that direction, one of our," he corrected himself, this was not a person. "One of our radios is over there. One of them lost it without destroying his garage opening device," he looked in the direction. "And that's the city. The lost equipment has to be returned or destroyed. The garage opener has the same tracker we have." He then turned to see if the local Jedi Master had any ideas.

Xander sat back and shrugged. "His and your call," he said smiling. Time to see what Anakin and his terrible two could come up with.

Anakin and the girls huddle together in a group, whispering. After a moment Anakin turned around and said. "Um. I suggest we split up in two teams. Xander and Teal'c will infiltrate the city and try to find the equipment. Meanwhile the rest of us go after the missing men."

Xander looked at Cameron. "What do you think of the plan, boss?"

"Risky. Sending in two people alone, without backup, into the high risk area," Cameron said simply. "And what about our secondary mission to find out what happened? The pyramid is inside the town."

Anakin looked at the girls and they whispered to him, he nodded and whispered back. It looked like they were arguing, then finally they nodded.

Alison smiled, they looked so cute.

Anakin cleared his voice. "Xander and Teal'c, with Alison, Cameron and Daniel as back up, infiltrate the city, find our equipment and infiltrate the pyramid. That's team senior. Meanwhile the junior team," he was interrupted by Dawn, "Team Wonderful".

Anakin sighed and changed the name. "Team Wonderful goes out and finds the missing SG-12 team."

Cameron nodded to himself. "That could be done. How good are they?" he asked Xander.

Xander smiled. "They are good. Anakin alone should already be a Jedi Knight. Except he says time and time again that he's to young," he said with a smile.

"Dawn is good for a student. She's skilled and trained with her sister, a Force Guardian. So she's used to fighting opponents faster and stronger than she is. She's still a student, but she should be able to handle it, as long as the others are there to help."

Dawn didn't look all that amused, she was not a baby. A bit irresponsible yes and... Her thoughts were interrupted by something, o look a butterfly, cute.

He turned to Lexa. "And Lexa's skill in PSI has increased. She has her powers and strength. She trained hard and unlike most PSIs, Lexa has not gone lazy. She has actually trained her body and her mind and not let her PSI power dominate her outlook on life. She has a long way to go still, but she can handle this. I trust them," he said, making the younger girl smile a brilliant smile.

Cameron nodded. "Alright, let's do it that way. Gather around, team junior," he said.

Dawn complained. "No, we're team wonderful."

Cameron glared at her. "Team junior, kid," he said simply.

"Now, these are the orders you are going to use to get the soldiers to trust you and I'm going to show you how to use the radio to track them," he said and started to explain.

Anakin nodded. "Let's do it then."

Xander was leaning back, listening and checking how the kids acted. He was proud of them, even Dawn was behaving responsibly. Oh look, a butterfly, how cute, and he was distracted.

A short talk later they separated.

Team junior, with Anakin as team leader or so the adults said, was riding away. Anakin was a bit confused. This planet seemed to have butterflies that distracted force users.

Dawn's golden helmet glittered a bit under the sun, before she put on her camouflage hood and cloak over the armor.

Later at the city

It looked as if bad people had ripped their own homes apart in anger and panic, as they ran away from the city. Cloaked, the whole group walked in, while the cyber-steeds were waiting outside, as Team Senior went into the city.

Xander looked around. "It looks a bit like Pamphylian," he said, remembering hours of trying to and reading old books, as he was researching vampires and demon years ago. It felt like another life.

Daniel, seeing the confusion caused by Xander's remark, explained, "It's a dialect of Greek. How did you know?"

Xander nodded, as he studied the writing that was carved into the wall with elegance, at each side of the building. He remembered having to translate books from Greek and Latin into English during research parties with Giles. "I've seen it in books. Those symbols say something about here lives or something." He should have been able to read it, but the language had changed over the millennium.

Daniel nodded. "Yes, it's a version of Pamphylian. The look of the letters is distinct, also the way they write and how the language sounds. It says, 'Here lives the honored family Silliantes'. I'm surprise that you knew that much."

Xander shrugged. "One trick they teach Jedi and other students is how to quickly learn languages and I was forced to translate Latin and Greek books when I was fifteen and sixteen," he said with a smile, unseen under his helmet.

The group moved forward.

The Jaffa were tense and waiting for the enemy on metal steeds.

Teal'c frowned. "Look at their heads. They have a strange headband," he said.

"Good eyes. You are correct, I think it's a mind shield," Xander said with a grin. "Alright, we're next door to the signal. We have to drop the cloak."

They nodded as they decloaked. Silently Cameron forced a window open and the group snuck inside.

There it was, a huge pile of equipment belonging to SG-12.

"It seems undiscovered," Teal'c said.

Cameron nodded. "Yes, let's hide it under the bed and plant some explosives to destroy it. We can use the confusion from the explosion to gain entry inside the pyramid."

Xander sighed. Military men, always wanting to destroy something. "Why not let me sneak inside? I'm sure they'll let me in, if I ask." The group blinked and he continued. "Once I'm inside and I call for help or if you hear explosions inside the pyramid, then you create a distraction. After all, you do wish to destroy the ship."

Cameron nodded, if anything the Jedi could do it. "Alright, be careful. We'd like information about the weapon and how to protect us against it and yes, taking it out would be good," he agreed.

Xander nodded. "Will do," he said. He turned invisible and vanished.

This time Xander did not bother sneaking. He lifted up using force flight to enter through the huge open window on the side of the starship pyramid.

Landing softly on a balcony he walked inside the ship. The wall was covered in gold, gold and gold. They really liked that metal, he could sense a theme here, and Celtic designs, not Egyptian, how exotic.

Ignoring the metal he worked his way deeper inside, until he found a lonely Jaffa warrior without the mind shield on his head.

"I am a friend," he said, using affect mind with the force.

The Jaffa relaxed.

"There is nothing strange about me," he said.

The Jaffa agreed on that.

"I am allowed to be inside also," he continued.

The Jaffa knew that.

"Give me your helmet. You will be given a new one later," he said to the man and the Jaffa gave it to him.

"Where are the control room and the new weapons room?" he asked.

The Jaffa started to talk. It was a friend after all and one who had the right to walk around the ship.

A short moment later the guard walked away and Xander dried the sweat from his forehead. Mind control was not something he liked to do or was good at.

He put the Goa'uld mind shield inside a bag and walked to the machine. As he snuck past a room, he saw that it was a computer room.

A quick stop inside later he had some of the information they wanted.

The worm's name was Lugus or Lugh, alternate Lleu, he remembered it from his lessons in mythology and from the hours he'd spent researching demons in his birth reality. Named as the Celtic god Lugh, master and inventor of all crafts, a god of trickery and rumored to have three phalluses. Xander grinned.

This version of Lugus spent quite some time on ancient Earth, never gaining real power, just researching and experimenting until he was driven away.

Finally he found some more important information.

First, apparently the PSI-Cannon effect lasted as long as they were aimed at you. Fear, paranoia or anger, even combining up to two of those feelings at the same time or shifting between them.

Second, it caused a longer lasting, but weaker version of the same feeling it created as a side effect. That side effect lasted weeks for an unshielded target.

Third, the PSI-Shield the Jaffa used was crap. It protection was only 25%, so most of the Jaffa felt the feeling of fear for days after the cannon was fired and the last made him smile. Lugus had sold weaker PSI-Cannons and PSI-Shields to other System Lords to create strife between them, until he himself could take over, using the full powered PSI-Weapons he had.

It seemed like the Goa'uld had traded with Thoth and Anubis for technology and training or creating Kull warriors, whatever that meant.

The last bit was scary. It was Jack that had inspired him. Lugus had found out about Earth having warriors with strange mystical powers and he had searched the galaxy and the Go'auld archive for a way to gain powers of his own and he found a way, using PSI-technology.

This was one smart worm, no, one smart snake. The Goa'uld was upgraded in Xander mind from a worm to a snake.

He even chose his bodies carefully. The first time he investigated the worms he saw that they had enormous capacity for memory, almost endless, but their ability for creativity and innovation was limited when compared to humans. In a host body though, it could in theory make use of the host brain in a limited way. From what Jack told him, most of the worm inventors where scavengers, rebuilding and restoring old technology or building copies from what already existed.

This snake was building new things and that's why this snake chose his bodies carefully. He looked not for appearance, but for brilliance. Each body was a genius that had been schooled, tested and rewarded, if smart enough. Once the smartest student was identified, the rest were destroyed.

From this world, he had fifteen children taken through the Star Gate. Each had showed signs of intelligence and his priesthood would start testing them. All of the kids where under 5 years of age, any older than that and they would be too old for the schooling.

Sadly, there was no address where they were taken.

Xander was disgusted and yet impressed. This was one smart snake. With the use of a chemical drug constantly injected in the body for a period of no less than two years, he actually formed a minor symbiosis with the bodies he possessed, causing the two parts to join and then combine into one single mind inside the body, greater than the two separated worm and human.

The years of training and mind washing ensured that each body would be emotionally similar to his past bodies and yet each time he changed bodies, his behavior changed ever so slightly. A burden he willingly accepted for the change of brilliance.

Not even the Tokra did what this guy did. The worm was still the dominant personality inside the body, but the human mind would influence it.

That is why the children had to be extremely young. Now under the tender care of his priesthood they would suffer under a memory repressing drug treatment and then years of indoctrination to limit their ego and self-worth, as well as mind numbingly difficult mental and intellectual training and tests of their creativity.

In the end, fanatically loyal, weak minded, geniuses where created out of the small number that survived. The worm could not allow a strong minded genius as his host or their personality could become dominant.

The snake had done this year after year.

The drug was too dangerous to be allowed to remain in existence, yet it had many potential uses in the hand of the Tokra. They said they wanted to share the bodies, not take over. In their hands, if they started to use it, they could become a true symbiotic species. That was good, the bad thing was the fact that the joined version of worm and human where smarter than a single in command worm or human was. It had the advantages of both species.

He sighed as he took the formula with him. It creped him out, as he could feel that greatness, both good and evil, at the same time would come from this, if the Tokra got their hands on it and started to use it.

Last and somewhat bizarre, he found that Lugos was experimenting with his own species. He was trying to find a safe way to transform a Goa'uld into a Goa'uld queen. It worked 50 % of the time. The side effects where that the neo-queens had fewer abilities than a real queen. They could spawn only a limited number of times, before the neo-queen became sterile.

Lugos wanted children loyal to his goal in life, children with his creativity and brilliance.

It was another fun thing for Jack to learn about, the amusing choices that a Jedi must learn how to make.

With that he started to sneak out, only to stop cold.

The door opened and Jaffa entered the room. Xander quickly cloaked himself.

The leader ordered, "Seal the room and seek every corner. The enemy is inside of here and he is invisible."

Xander raised an eyebrow. How did they know that? Unless, he had to de-cloak to attack the computer, so cameras might had seen him and there could have been a hidden alarm on the computer. Jaina and Danni where more skilled than he was when it came to computer hacking. He was more of a computer butcher.

With the door sealed, he was trapped and if he was correct, the leading Jaffa was carrying some kind of bomb. The Goa'uld sure had covered all his bases.

If Xander defeated the Jaffa, boom. If the Jaffa defeated him, then he could look at torture or instant dead.

Now the question was: could he escape before the Goa'uld pushed the button?

The door was guarded by nine Jaffa, holding a strange object towards the room.

Xander frowned and tipped his sensors. Yeah, an energy shield was protecting the door and the wall around that door. No other doors in this room, damn he was trapped.

Time to uncloak. Snap hiss, Snap hiss.

"Jaffa Cree," one screamed, as he started to fire his Zat'nik'tel or Zat-gun at Xander. He was followed by fifteen others.

The Jedi just spun around, holding one of his lightsabers in the air, parrying the bolts. The other lightsaber he held low, creating a ring of fire on the floor around him.

The Jaffa were confused until suddenly the stun grenades many of them carried were activated. It meant the Jedi was escaping, but how?

Xander used his skills to the maximum and parried as fast as he could, while pushing his other, longer blade into the floor and through it, quickly cutting a hole in the floor. He could see that the grenades like objects were activated, as the floor suddenly vanished under his feet and followed by an explosion he fell down to the next floor.

Fire and plasma rained down, as he crashed down, landing roughly on his feet.

"Urg," he said, shielded under his trusted fire proof cloak.

It looked burned. Damn, that was a hot plasma bomb.

Shrugging, he dumped his cloak. At least his armor was unhurt. A small pain in his shoulder told him that he would have fun with it for a while. Still on his knees he removed one of his last thermal detonators from his belt. Leaning against the wall he stood up and he activated it with forty minutes on the timer and let it roll behind him under a bench.

Hopefully it would remain unseen.

He quickly rushed out into the corridor and found it swarming with Goa'uld. Xander swore, "Cameron, this is a direct order, get the bitching hell out of town, NOW. This guy is a smart snake and he's going to use the weapon on the town again. I'm on my own for now." He hoped the fool would listen to him as in front of him the corridor was filled with Jaffa holding their staff weapons aimed at him.

"Hi guys," he said, smiling under his helmet.

And the fire started, as the staff weapons sent a rain of death towards him. Xander spun around, parried and returned the attack. One swift force jump and he was standing in the middle of them. As they turned in panic, Xander let out a massive Force wave, which sent the Jaffa around him flying, as the force wave pushed them away in all directions. Some, by the force of the push, were crushed by the wall and the corridor itself bent. Almost a round imprint was left in the metal floor roof and walls with Xander standing in the middle.

Those that were not crushed ended up flying at head crushing speed along the corridor, before crashing down, breaking bones and bodies as they glided along the floor and crashed into the wall at the end of the corridor.

Panting hard from the hard work, Xander kept moving and felt a massive wave of fear and panic strike him.

"No. No. I will not," the Jedi Master said and focused his will power and his massive skills in the force to block out the attack. The PSI-Cannon was being used and anybody standing in the lower parts of the ship would feel the fear.

Lugus was no longer playing around. He was trying to crush him with fear. Xander snorted as he straightened up. "Better and stronger people have tried that, among them my father in law," he said, shaking of the fear.

At the end of the corridor the elevator opened and dark armored warriors walked out. The Kull had entered the game.

They were a living life form, born inside an advanced armor with the use of special sarcophagi, and trained since birth to be loyal and absolutely fearless. They were living machines of destruction. They were armed with inbuilt fast shooting Zat'nik'tel's and they carried other weapons if needed. Their armor made them highly resistant against energy weapons. Thor considered them to be indestructible. The Kulls Lugus used were even more improved.

Xander raised his light saber in a ready position. Then send a force push out against the closest Kull.

It was sent flying backwards and crashed into the wall. Then it just stood up again, completely unhurt. Xander saw the impact impression on the wall, no way it wasn't hurt. Then he saw it. The Kull had a PSI-weapon, one that created a kinetic energy shield around it.

This would make the Kull almost immune against kinetic energy, unless it over powered the PSI-Shield-weapon, and he was faced with fifteen of them.

"Let's dance," he said and attacked. Rain of bolts flew towards him, as he force pushed, slashed and dashed between them.

He was testing the strength of the armor. It took nine or more cuts before his lightsaber could penetrate the armor unaided by the force, once aided, he could cut it with only two or three hits.

That was not good, not good at all. Then one of them raised his hand and Xander felt a strong impact and was sent flying, as it used a kinetic strike against him. "Omph," he said in pain and shock, as he was sent flying backwards in the corridor.

Two Kull jumped at him and grabbed his arm, holding him.

Xander swore as he used his skill in the force as well as his own natural strength, which was almost twice that of a normal human. Improved with the force, he was a formidable super powered fighter.

With a strange twist he pulled his left shoulder out of its socket and escaped the grip from one side and then with a judo like throw, improved by his skill in the force, sent the Kull holding his right hand crashing into the one on the left.

As they lost the grip on him Xander focused his power and a lance of energy leaped out from the end of his hand. Emerald lightning cut down in the corridor and sliced two Kull warriors in half.

Using the force he dampened the pain in his left shoulder and rushed shoulder first in to the wall with the force guiding him. The shoulder snapped back in place and if he'd had the ability to feel pain at that moment, he would have screamed. Instead he waved his arm and grabbed the lightsaber in his hand as it flew up from the floor.

Now the game had ended and he attacked, at full power and full speed.

It looked like the Kull were thinking the same thing and a rain of Zat-energy and kinetic strikes came down on him, which he had to parry.

It felt like home again, Xander mused, as the last of the abominations died and he rushed out into a hanger. 23 minutes before the Thermal Detonator exploded. It would be the size of an extremely big atomic bomb, considering all the naquada and the fusion reactor inside the ship.

He then tried to find Lugus. He had to order the snake of the planet somehow.

It wasn't that difficult. The snake was ready to run and abandon his ship already.

Seeing the Jedi coming towards him, the snake rushed away from his smaller ship and headed deeper into the labyrinth like insides of the pyramid ship.

Seeing another nine Kull and twenty Jaffa, Xander sighed. The Jaffa were too fast to hunt and they where to many to fight and they blocked his way out.

He ran in the other direction, which also let inside the ship, and hurried to the ring teleports. Maybe he could use them to enter the bridge. It did him no good. It was bobby trapped. If he used it, he would end up dead and he had no idea how to disarm the trap.

Snorting, he used his lightsaber to destroy them and walked out. Now up to the control room. Hiding, sneaking and even crawling, he came up to the command floor.

There the snake was talking to his prime Jaffa. Xander listened in on the discussion while he remained unseen.

Lugus was afraid. The mighty Earth dagger corvette had been seen more than once in the same vicinity as the Earth Jedi Jack.

Xander raised an eyebrow. What had the Earthlings done to and with the ship to give it the reputation of being a mighty ship?

It gave him an option.

Sneaking away to the bridge, he slowly entered, as the door opened to let a Jaffa out. Hiding in a corner, he became visible again. Using his affect mind, he whispered, "You have seen a dagger shaped ship, a big one, 200 meters or longer, hiding in space. It cloaked and then was seen again, coming closer and closer. Report that to your master."

The Jaffa looked at the sensors in shock, that ship was unseen again. It must be a badly working cloak. He had to report it to his master.

Xander then turned invisible again.

A short moment later the door opened and Lugus entered the bridge.

Xander waited.

The System Lord investigated the sensor readings. "Are you sure the ship looked like this?" he asked, holding up a recording of the dagger.

"Yes my lord," the tricked Jaffa said.

Lugus looked nervous. "We are leaving. Take off in five minutes," he said. The Jedi had been in the hanger. He must have escaped or they would have more fighting inside.

As they left again, Xander sneaked out as well.

Five minutes. Not much time left.

He entered one of the rooms with a balcony and saw big metal plates gliding over his escape route. He jumped and flew as fast as he could to the exit of the ship.

Gliding and jumping on the surface of the ship Xander was send on a wild crazy flight as the antigravity chock wave of the ships engine pushed him away.

Tumbling out of control the Jedi master could do nothing as the wild push forced him to crash right through a building roof and a second floor. He used all the force he could to shield himself from the crash.

Trembling from the pain of being pushed through concrete, Xander fell into a deep Jedi healing trance. Jaina would be so angry with him. His last thought was the fact that Anakin and the girls would be facing paranoid, fearful and perhaps over aggressive SG-12 members, as well as Jaffa warriors and perhaps those strange Kull soldiers. He had to recover and fast.

Note: Thank you to Inachis and Hawklan, who once again worked this chapter over for me.

Chapter 41

Earlier

Cameron was silent. They had changed houses and were now hiding inside another one nearby, on the other side of the street. It was safer that way. If they needed to push the button, the explosion would make the enemy look the wrong way. At least he hoped so.

Suddenly the radio squeaked out an order from Xander: "Cameron, this is a direct order. Get the bitching hell out of town. NOW. This guy is a smart snake and he is going to use the weapon on the town again. I'm on my own." They all heard it.

The currently leader of SG-1 was silent for a moment and then he agreed to the order. "You heard him. Get going team."

Teal'c looked ready to run. His trust in the power of the Jedi Master was absolute. "Agreed," he said, as he hurried to the back door window they'd designated exit-1.

Daniel frowned. "What if he needs help?" he asked.

Alison nodded. "We can't just leave," she said.

"We are not leaving him, we are just leaving the city," Cameron said. "If the weapon is used, our PSI-shields build from junk might not work and we're no good to him scared of our own shadows. We're going to wait outside the town," he said, while following Teal'c through the window.

The two last members seemed to agree and they joined him. They didn't seem to like the order and truthfully, neither did he.

Cameron rushed between two of the houses. "This sucks, leaving him behind," he mumbled. "But it's the logical thing to do, until we know how strong our shields are."

Daniel nodded. "I understand and like you said, it sucks." He smiled and thought that Cameron was a good man.

Then it struck them. Fear, panic and more of both.

The PSI-Shield fought against the massive wave of terror which was striking down on them, but right beneath the aim of the Terror-cannon it gave them as much protection as wet toilet paper against a revolver.

"No, God save us."

"We're all going to die, die."

"Spiders, creepy and crawling everywhere. Run, RUN!"

"No, not my son, no."

In pure terror painful illusions were being created by their minds as they rushed around, stumbling like drunks in an empty town, filled with Jaffa laying on the ground, trapped in a never ending nightmare. Their PSI-Shields were smoking, overloaded from the pure pressure they were under.

When they reached the end of the field, the four fighters from Earth were in a bad mental shape. Madness and fear filled their eyes as they rushed deeper into the woods, regressing to a pure instinctual level. Like animals, they vanished among the trees.

Behind them the pyramid lifted off and the Terror-cannon effect stopped as it came out of range. None of that was noticed, as they kept running or hiding. Fear was their life at that moment.

In town the Jaffa laid still on the ground, their minds almost crushed from the terror they had felt, and Xander slept as his body healed.

Above them a new sun shined, unnoticed, for a second or two, as the pyramid exploded. The Thermal Detonator combined with the Naquada generator created a big atomic explosion. The only noticeable effect was a massive EMP pulse that turned off or burned out all communication radios on the planet.

Far away deep in the mountain forest of the world

Calmly morning light rose over a sky heavy with rain. Not a sound was heard, until suddenly a small stone was crushed by a steel hard hoof, as a pale cybersteed rushed forward, carrying a dark rider. Beside him on the left, riding a white horse and wearing a golden armor, rode Dawn and on his right was Red-Lightning, the red cyber-steed with silver hoofs, with Lexa on its back. They stormed across the terrain faster than any man or car could move, nearly at around 90 mph.

Anakin rained in his horse. "Slow down, Ghost." On his other side the girls did the same. He turned and watched. "Do you feel that Dawn?" he asked.

Dawn nodded. "Yeah, a strange feeling, twisted life energy and... and worms," she huffed.

"Let's bunker down here and sneak forward," Lexa said and turned to the cybersteeds. "You guys wait here, there are bandits in the neighborhood and the natives could be on the warpath."

Red-lightning nodded. "Me and Ghost will move like wraiths. Jolly Jumper, I'm not so sure of."

The robot named Jolly huffed. "Hey, I can be silent," it complained.

Anakin grinned. "Just be silent and careful," he said. The adaptable AI processor in the robot horse had sure adapted fast, creating a personality that matched the rider.

They sneaked away and a moment later they found the source of the bad feeling.

Jaffa warriors, about a hundred of them, in a small mountain camp with twenty strangely armored soldiers. Even the Jaffa seemed to be scared of the armored men.

Dawn eyes widened as she put the macrobinoculas down. "They're not men in armor. The armor is solid. I can't see a way anybody could remove it." She frowned. "It could be a cybernetic linked armor. Like the one Darth used."

Anakin studied it, using the macro binocular and the force. "No, not those, they feel strange in the force. These are not born from any normal beings. More like clones, but worse," he said, sensing the twisted life energy inside of them.

Lexa nodded. "Just let's move around them," she advised and the other agreed as they returned to the horses. It was time to move faster to the stranded SG-12.

"Right, let's go," said Dawn and between the three they rushed branches, brushed over them and only the force and in Lexa's case, her Kinetic shield, kept them on their cybersteeds.

The horses themselves seemed to enjoy the chance to let loose a bit in a wild untamed terrain. Every now and then Anakin would listen to the tracker, which pointed dead a head. Most of SG-12 was there.

The SG teams consistent of different numbers of team mates. Any team where all members had died at the same time was retired and its name never to be used again by SGC. So far, only a handful of teams had that doubtful honor. SG-10 was the most famous, as the planet they were on was trapped in the event horizon of a black hole. They were here to make sure SG-12 did not end like them.

SG-1 for example was an exploration unit and as standard, it was a 4-6 member team. SG-1 had the honor of being the flagship team. Other teams, like a Medical one team, often had 6-8 team members, a pair of doctors and a nurse as well as trained people with strong backs to carry tools and wounded back. Engineering teams could have over 20 members in their groups.

Army combat teams usually had mission specified numbers of fighters. SG-12 was a 10 man team, as an exploration team with different specialties. Most teams kept themselves near the Star Gate.

Once an exploration team reported a planet was interesting, SG-12 was send there to explore further, sometimes using ultra light airplanes and at other times with specially built motocross bikes. They were electric ones, using power-packs for longer range and solar cells for slow recharging.

Among the different SG-teams only SG-15 did anything similar.

Like the famous and infamous SG-1, SG-12 had started to gain a spooky reputation for traveling longer, faster and further away in shorter times and through the worst terrain and hostile territory than should have been possible and always coming back. Unlike SG-1, they had no deaths among their core members, only four cases of transfers to other teams.

The worth of geographic and diplomatic information, as well as geological knowledge they had accumulated had created untold treasure the SGC could now use. They were the golden team of Star Gate command.

Anakin looked at the sensor. "It's at least 7 of them."

He fell silent as they came into a canyon full of sharp rocks and sandy cliffs which looked almost impossible to travel over. The whole place looked like it was filled with caves and ambushes waiting to happen. "What was SG-12's specialty again?"

Dawn replied, "Um, long range travel." Seeing him stare at her, she explained further. "Most of them are wilderness experts. Survive anywhere, anyplace, anyhow."

Anakin nodded. "Ghost, can you ride through there?" he asked.

The cybersteed focused its sensors, slowly looking over the path ahead of them and then it nodded, "With great care only, but I can."

"Well, according to the sensors they're not far away. Let's mount off and get going," Anakin said simply.

The horse wondered if it should say anything about the fact that the whole team was still in armor and helmet and looked more alien than the Jaffa in ballet dance course. It shrugged mentally, as it recharged its battery from its interior generator.

Walking between the sharp pointy rocks and deadly cliffs was nerve wracking for most. Walking between them as you suddenly felt danger was worse. All of them detected the sudden movement, Dawn and Anakin using the force and Lexa using kinetic vision.

The only warning was a burst of energy and a loud scream. "Jaffa Cree!" as a Jaffa soldier suddenly appeared in the view.

More moved from one of the unseen caves. A small group of fifteen came rushing out.

Seeing it was the same huge group they saw earlier, Anakin wondered how they had arrived here before him and his friends.

The Jaffa seemed irritated that it was not the SG team. "It's not the Earth humans."

Smiling under her helmet Dawn spoke up, "So, we can go then?"

The Jaffa replied, "No, take them in for questioning. Our lord will want to see what those weapons are. They sure look like Earth weapons," he said about the big blaster guns.

Anakin sighed. "We are not what you are looking for," he said with affect mind.

"You will let us go now," Dawn continued with affect mind and Anakin finished with a "Have a good day."

The Jaffa, wearing a PSI-protection shield, suddenly knew that these were not the people he was looking for and to let them go and wish them to have a good day. It was the last thing that he reacted to. He never wished anybody a good day, not even his mom. "Jaffa cree," he screamed out, as he lifted his staff weapon.

"What, how did he break our affect mind?" Anakin asked in surprise.

"Worry about that later," Dawn said, seeing how the other fifteen Jaffa had spread out. Two of the weird ones with armor were standing nearby and then staff weapons energy bolts started to fly.

Snapp, hiss, Snapp hiss.

Dawn and Anakin activated their energy shields and lightsabers and moved in for an attack.

Lexa pulled free her fighting pike in her right hand and a DL-44 heavy blaster pistol in the left. It was smaller than the Thunderer and caused less damage, but the DL-44 was easier to use while wielding a long kick ass staff in her other hand.

Even with the help of her kinetic ability she felt a bit off balance though.

Wielding the pike like an over sized club she rushed in the brawl, clobbering the nearest Jaffa using her PSI ability of kinetic strike to improve the strength of the hit. Instead of being hit from something like a young normal sized 16 year old girl, the Jaffa now felt like he had been kicked by a rhino. She kept swinging the club, spreading a circle of flying Jaffa around her, before she opened fire with the DL-44 heavy pistol.

She let Dawn and Anakin stand nearby, expecting them to shield her from energy blasts, and shield her they did. A rain of bolts was deflected and then the two armored freaks walked into the fight.

High speed bolts flew out from them as they charged towards Dawn and Anakin, shooting faster then she could see.

Anakin started to move. He was trying to keep the attack at a distance. Waving his lightsaber, he made a rain of rocks impact on the Kull warrior. Dawn dodged, feeling the heat of the attack begin to be troublesome. Seeing Anakin's way of attacking, she pushed out with a force push, making the second Kull fall back.

Lexa shoot a bolt in the same Kull Dawn attacked, only to see his armor absorb the energy with no indication of being damaged.

That was not good and then it got worse.

The one Dawn sent flying stood up with no damage on him at all.

The one that Anakin was hammering with rocks had an energy shield that protected it, a kinetic only energy shield.

"They are using PSI Kinetics," she screamed out.

"Crap," Anakin muttered. He hated fighting against PSI, they were tricky. Sure, they had a limited bag of tricks, but until you knew what type of PSI you were facing, you had almost no idea what to expect.

A PSI-Telekinetic wearing energy absorbing armor was about the worst thing you could fight.

"Move," Dawn said, pushing Lexa brutally, using force push, to the side, thus saving her life. In the nick of time too, as the rain of staff weapon fire made the place Lexa had stood in explode.

Lexa flew through the air, crashed down head first, bounced a bit and rolled over on her rump. She elegantly crawled up on her feet. Her kinetic shield had stopped her or even her armor from getting scratched. Seeing the big crater in the place she just stood, she did not complain.

Dawn and Anakin were yards away from the crater, both had jumped free in the last second, and then the group attacked again.

The Jaffa seemed to think she was an easy target and compared to Anakin she most likely was, but not that easy. She touched the PSI-Badge that activated her Type-five implant. She suddenly felt power super charge her, increasing her PSI strength and even granting her a second Psi Power, that of healing.

Using kinetic-move she jumped twenty five feet up and sent a kinetic strike at one of the Jaffa, breaking part of his shoulder from the impact. As she spun around on the power of kinetic move, Lexa grabbed a stone from a cliff above her with her telekinetic powers and then pushed. The push caused the big rock to start to fall down towards the four Jaffa below.

Lexa and the rock missed each other narrowly and the rock continued on its way down and met the four head on. A large squishy sound was heard, as they became one with the ground.

Being unbalanced did not matter and with the help of kinetic-sense and the kinetic trick called cat-fall, were you combine kinetic sense with telekinetic power to always land on your feet, she did just that and landed in perfect balance, shooting two Jaffa in the back and spinning around, she sending a massive kinetic strike against the Kull Dawn was fighting.

The Kull warrior's kinetic shield buckled and groaned from the struggle of being attacked by a mightier kinetic attack, but it held and protected the Kull warrior from most of the attack, even as the warrior was sent flying, becoming one with the mountain wall. An avalanche of smaller stones and sand buried him alive under tons of stone.

Dawn grinned as she yelled a "thanks." She was almost in awe of the power Lexa was using and here she had been worried that Lexa would not be able to keep up with them.

The two Jedi joined forces against the last Kull warrior and they managed to avoid its rapid attacks long enough to cut it open and apart. Anakin had mastered the ability to use the force to make the lightsaber cut deeper and inflict more damage.

Dawn's skill to do that was not that good. She knew a bit of it and could do it in a calm and relaxed training room. The Kull Anakin was focusing the ray of his extra focused lightsaber on needed around two cuts in the same place before he penetrated the armor. Dawn needed around five.

As the Kull warrior was falling down dead, another problem showed up.

A rain of bullet was fired down on them. Lexa took the first round, but luckily her kinetic shield protected her. Still, she was hit with so many that her energy was being drained and she hurried for protection.

Then a hand grenade landed beside Dawn. She vanished in the explosion and Anakin had to dodge as the attacker focused on him now.

As the smoke went down the attacker was gone and on the ground was Dawn, a bit smoky, but she walked up to them unhurt.

"How did you survive that?" Lexa asked.

"Luck, I used force push on myself and crashed down away from the explosion and fragments," Dawn answered, shivering. "I think I hurt my shoulder at the landing. It's not broken, but it hurts," she whined.

Anakin blinked. Force push yourself? That's an idea. "Let's get to cover."

Later in a nearby cave

The recording device in their armor had captured the attacker and the weapon. It was someone of SG-12, namely Richard Rivera, and the weapon was a M16-micro assault rifle, designed by Samantha Carter as a backup weapon for the SG teams.

Anakin frowned and said, "Why did the guy attack us? Sure we look strange with armor but still..."

"I think we should remove most off our armor. We do look a bit alien and they have been under attack. Fight or flee, and they have nowhere to flee," Dawn said. The others blinked and looked at her, and then they slowly nodded. That made sense.

"I say we keep our soft armor and the hard shell armor we leave with our cyber-steeds," Lexa said.

Anakin sighed. "And the helmets. If things go bad, we put them on."

The two girls agreed to that and luckily it was far easier to return to the horses.

A short change later and they were sneaking back.

The SG-12 team was moving around, changing positions, and boy, did they move fast.

A sudden explosion was heard nearby and the teens quickly moved to see.

Body parts of a Jaffa were lying on the ground and a team of Jaffa moved on without care.

Then suddenly the ground exploded again and again.

"Mine field," Dawn said in surprise. "Where did they get mines from?" she asked.

Lexa grabbed the list with information on the team. "Great, two of the team members are chemist and explosives experts. They could make explosive traps using hair care products," she said, irritated.

Dawn and Anakin swallowed, as they informed her that that wasn't too difficult really, even if building a flame thrower using hair care products was a lot easier.

Lexa glared at them. "How do you know that?" Seeing the shameful look in their eyes she felt a feeling of dread. "No wait, I don't want to know," she said.

It was most likely a wise choice.

Then the three suddenly realized. "Um, we're standing in a mine field," Anakin said.

Lexa continued. "That is so not a good idea."

Dawn nodded, looked around and said, "I agree."

"I can force fly and carry one person," Anakin said.

"I can use force move to jump real high and climb just like Spiderman," Lexa said.

"Yay, I get to take Anakin for a ride," Dawn said, grinning.

Lexa looked at her rival in regards of Anakin and said, "I so hate you. Anakin, can you take me for a ride later?"

The poor boy blushed, but nodded. Even facing death the girls were teasing him. "Let's go," he said or rather, squeaked. Damn teenage voice, why do you betray me?

Anakin grabbed Dawn as he lifted up. Flying unsteadily, he landed on the cliff or tried to as somebody opened fire at him. His danger sense detected a threat he could defend against if he let Dawn fall, but there could be mines down there.

Lexa, at the same time as Anakin lifted up, jumped and like the cartoon Spiderman, she landed on the cliff. Then once again a sniper was starting to shoot. Her kinetic sense detected the rifle and bullet in advance.

"By the dirty underpants of a pervert Sith lord," she swore, as she jumped out. Activating the PSI-Badge and her Type-Five implant, sadly she would not have many charges left in it at this rate.

Then she dove in the path of the bullets. One by one they hit her kinetic shield.

On the hill the SG-12 sniper stood up, his eyes bloody and crazy as he fired down. He was screaming, "Die alien die!"

She quickly lost momentum from the jump and started to fall down.

Behind her Anakin landed on the cliff, he and Dawn were safe.

She hung in the air and was approaching the ground quickly. She had a bad feeling about the ground under her. It felt destructive.

Anakin smiled, she would be fine. It was just a small fall for Lexa as long as she had her PSI ability active. He hoped her kinetic shield was active and strong or that fall would kill her.

Dawn had just turned around seeing Lexa on her way to land on the ground when it happened.

Lexa feet touching on the ground activated a huge explosion. Rock fragments and metal fragments filled the air as a can filled with semtex exploded ad she was standing in the centre of it. Like a rag-doll, Lexa was thrown up in the air, crashed down again and no longer moved.

Anakin jumped up and was flying down to see if their Lexa was alive.

Dawn drew her Thunderer as she saw that the sniper was aiming at their Lexa and at Anakin. Putting it on fully automatic, she opened fire. Sensing something strange with the man, she aimed at the feet. They could always be replaced, at least that was what her blade and weapon teacher had taught her. Take down the enemy without killing them. Aim at the feet and hands. A cut of arm or foot is easy to replace, they always told her.

The SG-12 trooper was lucky, as Dawn was too worried to aim properly and he managed to dive for cover, even as the rock around him started to melt and he had to run like the road runner.

Dawn put in a new magazine as Anakin landed. "She's alive," he said.

Dawn smiled and said, "Thank you force that her Type five implant has been activated."

Anakin nodded and turned it off. "That must be the reason she survived that explosion," he said.

Only her boots where damaged. They could see Lexa's socks and a toe peeking out from the hole in her socks.

Dawn rolled her eyes. "She always forgets to throw away old socks or repair them, if there is a hole in them," she complained with a smile on her face. Lexa had more old socks than any girl she knew and kept using them until there wasn't much left to use.

Anakin snorted. "Yeah, remember those big red size XXX socks she used to have on her in the mornings on the Enterprise?"

Dawn nodded.

"Where did she get those and why doesn't she use them anymore?" he asked.

Dawn replied, "Those are Christmas socks. You hang them up so that Father Christmas can put presents in them." She smiled and continued, "And Lexa used them because the air is kind of cold in her bed. Lexa's bed or the foot end of her bed is near the air intake, so she has a draft near her feet."

Anakin looked at her for a moment and then asked, "Why doesn't she use them now then?"

Dawn replied, "One, I put them away, they made her look stupid, and two, Xander fixed the air intake, so it's no longer cold in her bed."

Anakin sighed. He thought she looked cute with those red oversized socks.

"What are you talking about?" Lexa complained, as she sat up. "My boots, my socks... Damn it those were almost new." 'Oh well one of them looked almost whole and I can find another lonely sock and have a working pair again, but my boots? Half of them are missing,' she thought. "I landed on a land mine, right?"

Her friends nodded and she sighed.

Feeling on the inside she found her PSI-Endurance was almost burned up. She needed to rest and the PSI-Badge extra bio-charge was down to one or perhaps two activations.

"I'm down to one implant use," she said. "And my PSI-endurance is done for. I need to eat and rest."

Dawn and Anakin nodded. That was the downside with Psi. In some areas they could match and even perform superior in power to what a Jedi could do, but they quickly run out of gas as the internal energy supplies of the user were drained. Unlike a Jedi, who has the force to provide more.

Anakin was in deep thought for a moment and then said, "Let's take a break. I think I see a cave over there."

"I'll come with you," Lexa said, feeling a bit helpless.

Dawn looked at them and said, "I think I'll use the force and go fishing after leftover Goa'uld toys. Don't worry, I'll be careful."

She hoped she could find one of those worms, they looked so cool. With that, she walked quite carelessly away.

Question: In a land filled with anti personal mines, where can you stand safely?

Answer: In the crater were one mine had already exploded.

Dawn knew that answer as she was using the force to force-jump down.

In the crater she looked around, now with her helmet on. She saw a Zat-gun, a second Zat-gun, a cool helmet thingy, some pieces of armor, and a staff weapon. She grabbed them all, but where would there be a worm? "Wormy, worm, come, wormy wormy," she called as she searched around.

There was one. "There you are," she said with a smile.

The terrified Goa'uld worm, just a young one, stared in terror as the human girl put it inside a big glass jar. A glass jar made from transparent steel with some air holes in it.

Dawn grinned. "I'm going to buy an aquarium for cool animals. You're my first catch," she happily said, as she turned around to jump up again. Of course, it would be best to hide the jar or Star Gate Command might take it the wrong way.

Later in the cave

Dawn had come back with a big bag of mixed stuff, including a hand grenade.

Anakin's techno senses tingled as he studied the grenade. It had no explosives in it, correction a tiny patch of explosives, just enough to make it say puff and destroy the grenade in a tiny smoke screen. Instead of saying boom by the force of the chemical explosion, there was a generator of a strange design inside, together with an oversized energy cell working as a battery.

It took him almost two hours to figure out what that thing was. It was a PSI-bomb. The pure power of the energy cell would burn out the PSI-generator in seconds, but during those seconds it would project an impressively strong field that would affect anybody inside it with an emotion.

The question was, what kind of emotion would the PSI-grenade project? The answer probably was to use tiny amount of energy to test the PSI-generator without making it burn out.

Anakin started to mix and build stuff as the girls slept. This was fun for him.

Soon a field of pure fear filled the cave for a second, then Anakin pulled out the power cable.

Dawn and Lexa woke up in a panic, seeing a blushing Anakin playing around with an alien hand grenade. They turned on him with lots of anger and screaming.

Soon they had forced 'Mr. Play with dangerous objects' to go to sleep.

Dawn was happy as she kept night watch. Now she could fill her jar with water, as the worm naturally lived in water. She put in some maggots and oxidizer to make sure that the jar had fresh air inside of it.

"Hi there little guy, how are you feeling? Better now I bet," she said, smiling at the worm now swimming around and around. "Yes, momma thinks you are so cute," she cooed, tapping the jar with a finger.

Lexa, who had been sleeping, woke up and looked up and was disappointed at what saw. She didn't get angry nor was she surprised. More or less she felt amused. "That's so cool Dawn. Where did you find it? Is it a real Goa'uld worm?" she asked.

Dawn nodded. "Down there" she said, pointing in the direction of the crater.

Lexa nodded, then reality hit her. "Dawn, are you sure the jar won't break?"

Dawn nodded. "It's made to keep small dangerous animal captive. It's transparent steel, fiberglass."

Lexa relaxed. "Yeah well, if you're going to keep it, don't forget to feed it," she reminded Dawn of that little, but important fact.

The two looked at the cute worm and then at their cute, but oh so irresponsible boyfriend. The adults believed he was the responsible one in the group, but Lexa couldn't understand what made them think that she was Ms. Responsible.

Note: Thanks again to Inachis and Hawklan for their work on this fic.

Chapter 42

At the same time in the city

"I feel broken, hurt and I bit my lips," Xander said as he opened his eyes. All he saw was the dirty floor his helmet was resting on. A quick diagnostic technique showed him that nothing was broken, but more than four bones in his shoulder had small cracks in them.

Deafening the pain with the force, he started to dig his way out of the dirt and broken wood he was buried under. Luckily his armor was whole and nothing had broken on that, except for the fire resistant cloak. That didn't bother him. The cloak got ripped and destroyed in combat constantly and he had tons of replacements back in the ship.

Recalling the battle he was not pleased with himself, he'd made too many mistakes. He had started to play with the Kull, trying to discover what they were and how dangerous they were. He should have just killed them quickly and never given them a chance.

And his download of the information? He was too sure of himself and he had forgotten that cameras could be installed and actually see him when he de-cloaked.

Mistake after mistake and why did he make them? He'd wanted the information so badly, that he had forgotten to be careful.

Force flying out of that big building when its engine activated was like sitting inside a washing machine when the spinning cycle activates. The field of the engine grabbed him and tossed him down like a broken toy.

No, that wasn't a mission he was particularly proud of, that's for sure, and he had to get a grip on himself.

Now, where were the guys? Sensing nobody nearby, he used the tracking function on the radio, and according to that, they were nowhere near the city. Strange, why would they leave town?

Sneaking out, he saw strange things, like Jaffa lying on the street, looking pathetic or sleeping restlessly. He stopped to cloak, but had his force-sense on maximum range.

The whole city felt like it had been bathed in terror and fear. The walls themselves radiate left over fear. Xander swallowed. That snake used the PSI-Cannon against him and hit the town with full power. Seeing the Jaffa lying about, trembling in terror even with a PSI-shield on them was not a good sign.

How well would Anakin's junk built shield stand up against that PSI-cannon, if the Goa'uld Lugus PSI-shield didn't even measure on the scale?

Sure Anakin said the shield would have almost 90 % improvement of the person's own ability to resist PSI and that's exactly what it did. It improved your own strength against PSI-attacks and other mental attacks, nothing more.

How well would that shield work? From what he saw here, not that good.

Looking around he activated his radio "Yo Horsey, I need you."

His cyber steed answered, using the internal radio: "Of course Xander. Have you considered my question?"

"I have. You're painted green and yellow, so I think Thunder is a good name," Xander said.

"I approve," the robot horse said, as it sped through town at its full speed of 200 mph.

"Wait a moment, I'm going to call the junior team," Xander said and then did so. "Hi Anakin..."

A long talk later he had finished describing the situation in town and listening to Anakin's report on their end. With that he jumped up on Thunder and yelled, "Away Thunder, away!" and like a flash they rushed out of town.

It was like riding a motor cycle. A surprisingly soft ride as the horse dampened the impact, except it moved that fast on almost any terrain. Speeding into the forest, they flashed between the trees and the rocks and were on the tracks of the missing SG-1 team members.

-KNM-

Sleep had been nice. When dawn arrived they were all awoken by it. Dawn, being a morning person, had greeted her name sake with joy and made breakfast for her friends.

Then Xander had called with an update of the situation of the senior team and the information he had on the side effects of the PSI-cannon. They had given him an update on what they had experienced.

Lexa had made some make shift repairs on the boots. She glued together some armor repair patches and the glue held the boots together, more or less, but she would have to make new boots once she got back home.

Now the junior team was going out to hunt crazy military people.

Dawn had a feeling that Buffy would be mighty upset with Xander for letting her do this. At least she had a cute pet now, Mr. Wormy.

Lexa wondered sometimes if everything was working the way it should inside Xander's head. Really, this was not what you were supposed to let your 16 year old sister do. It really wasn't. Not even if said sister liked the adventure. She knew Xander was protective, sometimes over protective. Still he let her go on insane missions like this when she wanted to. Perhaps it was a side effect of growing up on a Hellmouth.

Anakin was thinking of home, strange missions, dangerous enemies, saving desperate allies in need as well as trying to make a new enemy in to an ally. It felt just like his childhood, except he hadn't been kidnapped, which was a bonus. The fact that he was reminded of his childhood by all that was amusing.

The three teens moved out from the cave and went after the renegade SG-12 team.

Jumping over the cliff using force jump, force flight and Kinetic move, they all landed on the side where they had last seen the sniper. Tracking the guy proved difficult. Even with the radio tracker, he and his team were almost invisible.

The mountain around them contained lots of minerals and metals that shielded the team against radio signals and hid them from people tracking them down using the radio trackers. Strange echoes showed up on the radio tracker every now and then.

The SG-12 team was moving or hunting, perhaps making traps.

Dawn and Anakin felt the presence of Jaffa and the Kull warriors, 14 of them. It seemed the one who'd been buried had been saved. Quickly they grabbed Lexa and rushed to hide inside a big bush. Nothing should see them lying down on the ground either from the front or from the side of the bush, making it a perfect hiding place.

And there was the Jaffa team with the Kull warriors spread out in a half circle around the other warriors, who moved in a two and two formation with a team of trackers in front.

Anakin tried to focus his powers, sensing for what they were doing and listening to what they were saying. It was difficult, but he quickly ignored his hearing and used his eyes instead, trying to read lips. Beside him Dawn did the same thing in a different way. She tried to read surface thoughts and failed, thanks to the PSI shield, but she kept on trying anyway.

As they came closer to where they had been walking, Lexa realized something. Foot prints, none of them had bothered hiding their foot prints. She focused and like a big brush, she sent a wave of telekinetic force spreading out from her, forcing the air to brush the ground, picking up dust and earth that should hopefully hide their foot prints.

For the Jaffa, it looked like a strange micro wind twister suddenly moved around in front of them. Most looked amused or ignored it and just tried to keep the dust away from their eyes and nose.

Dawn and Anakin looked at her and she whispered just one thing: "Foot prints." Now they were safe Lexa thought, as they stayed hidden in the bush.

They noticed that one of trackers was standing right behind them and then he screamed out, "JAFFA CREE," as he stared at the three pairs of feet poking out from the bush.

The teens blinked and looked back, realizing that their feet were poking out.

"D'oh!" Dawn said, imitating Homer.

"I thought yesterday was not our day. It's not fair having two bad days in a row," Lexa complained.

Anakin shook his head. "No, yesterday was a good day. Today looks like it's going to be a really, really bad day," he said while looking at the fourteen Kull and over forty Jaffa. Yes, that was a sign of a bad day.

He could cut a Kull open with two cuts in the same place. Dawn would need four, maybe five, before she could penetrate the armor. He wouldn't be able to fight fourteen by himself or with Dawn by his side, not even with Lexa for added help.

The three teens wondered what Xander would do and the answer came to them in a flash. Xander would never fight an honest battle against a superior enemy. He would fight as unfairly as possible and write a whole new book on dirty fighting in the process.

Like dancers or movie actors in a Hong Kong action movie with choreographed battle moves, they started the fight.

Anakin and Dawn used force pushes to fly up in the air and land with their lightsabers activated. Lexa used kinetic move to roll behind the bush and right at the Jaffa tracker standing there.

Before the Jaffa had a chance, she had captured him with her kinetic-hold skill. As the Jaffa found himself frozen, Lexa pulled her DL-44 and pulled the trigger, sending the Jaffa down sleeping, as she had the weapon on the stun setting.

In front of them the battle had started. She ignored it as she pulled out the PSI-Grenade from Anakin's backpack.

"Let's go guys," she screamed and they started to run in a wild panic or so it looked.

The Jaffa leader smiled. Now they would be captured; running like that only made them easy targets. Then he grunted as fear and panic attacked him.

Thankfully his PSI-Shield held and he continued moving, but his troops were distracted by the PSI attack and spread out. Except for the Kull, who seemed immune and had run after the strangers.

"Jaffa Cree," he screamed for the runaway Jaffa.

In the distance, running and jumping like locusts, Anakin, Dawn and Lexa vanished behind the cliffs.

-KNM-

Later

Tall rock spires and rocky pits made the area they were in look like a labyrinth of death, like something straight out of a D&D game. The only things missing were the traps.

"Are they still after us?" Dawn asked, looking at Anakin, who nodded. The two Jedi walked at an advanced pace, as their danger sense could detect anything.

Suddenly, Lexa grabbed them and pulled them back hard.

"What?" Anakin and Dawn said, surprised.

Lexa pointed at their feet. "Tripping wire," she said. "No, an activation wire. That rock tower over there is loaded with explosives." It was pure luck she'd managed to see the wire with her kinetic vision.

The two Jedi looked at each other. Alright, the force could detect anything alive or actively attacking them, like humans or robots, but not a passive trap they walk into themselves.

"Thanks," they said. Looking around, Dawn thought. 'Yeah, it is a D&D game and there are the Orcs.'

The Kull warriors just kept on following them.

The teens quickly moved around the trap, hoping the Kull would fall for it.

No explosion was heard as the Kull warriors swiftly walked over the wire, not activating the trap, and kept following, moving slower and more carefully.

As the first few had stepped over it, Anakin activated the trap using the force. A big explosion rocked the hills and made the tower like rock fall down in splinters over the Kull.

Anakin and the gang shielded themselves. As soon as the rocks stopped flying, they would attack one or two of the Kull, then run like hell again.

Seconds later two Kull warriors were dead from the explosion and fire. Not even their kinetic-shield or their energy absorbing armor could withstand that force. The rest was surprised as the gang they were hunting suddenly jumped in between them, slashing, cutting, stabbing and force pushing at them before running back the way they came.

Two more of the Kull were now dead from the combined attack of Dawn and Anakin and another four were just standing up after being thrown away.

Both the Kull and the junior team were interrupted by a rain of bullets from a direction behind them.

Anakin was parrying the bullets with both the force and his light saber with Dawn by his side. When grenades suddenly came flying down, he had to run back again towards the stone labyrinth and the Kull.

Even the Kull warriors were overwhelmed by the deadly rain of bullets and grenades that came down on them. Even a lightning gun and a wave-blaster were being used.

Side by side, a Kull warrior and Anakin peaked out their heads from behind a big rock the two of them were using for cover. "See anything?" Anakin asked.

The Kull replied, "Negative."

Then another rain of bullets came at them.

The Kull opened a piece of his armor and removed a power pack. His PSI-weapon, a kinetic weapon, which also worked as a kinetic shield, was running low on energy. He quickly put in a new power cell.

Anakin looked at the gizmo. Suddenly he understood, a defensive PSI-weapon.

"Hi I'm Dawn, what's your name?" Dawn asked the Kull warrior she was hiding beside brightly.

The Kull just looked at her. "Kull-345," it then answered.

"Oh, that's interesting. Why 345?" Dawn asked.

"It's the order in which I was born," the Kull replied.

"That's not even cute," Dawn said.

The Kull had no real answer to that.

Lexa and her Kull were arguing over who would surrender to who if they survived.

Anakin sighed. "She should have learned by now. Sith spit, your guy should know by now," he said to his Kull.

The Kull nodded. "You are not the type of being that ever surrenders. Nor are we willing to surrender and shame ourselves in the eyes of our god. If we survive this trap, we would have to fight again," it said.

Anakin nodded. "You're damn straight." He was silent for a moment and then said, "Something isn't right there. Why just shoot to keep us down, why not...? By the Force," he said as he realized it. Looking around he spotted why SG-12 were so sure of themselves. The wall of the canyon, even the bombs on the floor, could be detonated by remote.

They just had to keep pushing them further in and then boom. Even now it might be too late if they activate it and if Anakin and the rest were to run, then SG-12 could shoot them. He was silent, as he pondered on some way his girls and he could escape.

"Listen to me," he said to the Kull warrior. It listened and nodded, then sent over new orders to his Kull-mates.

Anakin did the same thing.

This made Lexa and her Kull stop arguing, at least for the moment. "You're stupid," she said and it answered "And you are fat."

Or they stopped arguing and started with the insults instead as they waited.

"No, I'm not and I don't need stupid toys, I have my own power, you weakling," she retorted.

The black armored Kull with his round insects like eye holes and Lexa, with her pale red body armor and a helmet with round insects like eye holes, glared at each other as they kept right on insulting each other.

From a distance it looked like two human sized bugs were having an insulting match.

Anakin felt something in the Force. "They're reloading. Now," he said.

And the Kull warriors started to run for the exits as one. Anakin and Dawn were leading the rush with Lexa in the middle of the swarm of Kulls.

Suddenly SG-12 started to fire down on them and threw hand grenades.

They were ready for that and pushed them aside with the force and with telekinetic power. Then everything behind and around them exploded, as someone up there released the trap.

Anakin found they had even put some bombs in front of them at the canyon's entry. The fastest Kull was blown apart from the force of the explosion and Anakin himself was almost crushed by the rubble raining down on him.

He kept running, with Dawn giving him a hand.

As they rushed out the three teens sped up, leaving the Kulls behind them. They could see the Kull were out of the trap and had engaged SG-12 in battle.

Taking a well reserve break Anakin sighed. "If it looks like SG-12 is losing or dying, we have to help them."

Lexa nodded. "Yes, it's not their fault they're scared out of their minds," she said and then frowned. "Normal humans run when they're afraid."

"Feels like their paranoia is on overdrive," Dawn said.

Anakin nodded. "Xander said it. The PSI-Cannon had three settings, paranoia, panic, and anger. During the attack they started with paranoia, switched to anger and finished with panic. The paranoia and anger overdrive made them fight each other in town, then panic so strong that it was pure terror hit them. Those that could still stand were running for the hills before they knew what hit them, trapped in a weaker echo of those emotions. Now they're going postal on anybody in their path."

The girls nodded and stared wide eyed at SG-12, who showed the Kull the true meaning of going postal.

Anakin flinched. "It looks like we have to interfere in the battle."

"JAFFA CREE! Attack them!" A Jaffa leader stood there, pointing at them.

Dawn growled. "What... YOU GUYS AGAIN?" she screamed while pointing at them. "HOW DARE YOU? WE SO DON'T HAVE TIME TO FIGHT A GROUP OF LOOSER WITH A GOLD STAMP ON THEIR HEAD. GET LOST, NOW!" she yelled at them, using affect mind.

The Jaffa, all forty of them, blinked.

"I said GET LOST," Dawn yelled again and used affect mind again, as strong as she could. She felt so drained. She'd never had to use that much power on such a large scale before, she needed time to recover. She hoped Anakin and Lexa were smart enough to do a Xander while the Jaffa were confused.

Some of the weak minded Jaffa, used to obeying orders, started to walk away. The others were confused and before the leader had a chance to get back in charge of the troops, Lexa, followed by Anakin, did the exact opposite of what Dawn had planned.

They attacked.

One single push on the PSI-badge and Lexa was supercharged. She attacked and sent waves of kinetic strikes against the enemies standing further away, waving the fighting pike like a club. She cleaved a Jaffa from top to bottom, shooting the second one in the foot.

Then she spun around, lifted a huge stone with her mind and sent it flying like a bullet. It crushed four Jaffa before they even had a chance to act.

Anakin was no slower as he rushed in. His lightsaber sliced and diced better than a Japanese TV cook on a food cooking show. The end result was more gruesome than appetizing though, cut off arms and legs flew around as the young Jedi fought to neutralize the enemy in a civilized non-lethal manner. Arms and legs are easy to replace in his reality after all.

Beside him Lexa sent out a kinetic push which made two Jaffa fly right into a small group right behind them. She then moved, faster than a speeding car, using kinetic-move, right at a group, wildly shooting and even hitting some of the targets. Point black, she clubbed them with her pike, crushing legs and arms, even guts and breasts from one end to the other.

The young girl was seeing spots of red, as anger took her over into a berserk state. They had kidnapped her. They had enslaved her. They had tried to kill her family. They had tried to kill her brother, her loved one and they had hurt her.

Lady Lumiya,

Darth Vader,

the Shadow beasts in the B5 universe,

Hakon the darkside vampire,

the Republic army and navy,

and the PSI laws of her own world.

All enemies she had faced suddenly merged to one in front of her. All she could see was blood. She finally had them all where she could destroy them. And she attacked.

And attacked. "You hurt me!"

And attacked. "You hurt my brother!"

And attacked. "You hurt my family!"

And attacked again. "You kidnapped us!"

Spinning around she stuck her staff right through the breast of Lazarus Slade and the Jaffa soldier behind her vision died.

A wave of her hand and a rock crushed Hakon. The Jaffa she was really attacking survived as the rock only hit his legs, but damn it was painful.

With a Jump kick she landed on one Jaffa. Using kinetic move she twisted his neck backwards and Lord Vader died. Her other hand, with open fingers, broke the ribs and dug themselves straight inside the body of another Jaffa, ripping out his heart and Lady Lumiya died again. "Never hurt my family again! Never again!" she yelled.

The pain had finally overwhelmed her. Not that long ago she had been kidnapped by Slade and had a faulty implant inserted in her. She'd been brainwashed to be a loyal slave. She even attacked Anakin and Dawn, before the implant broke apart.

She had seen dark lords and ladies hurt her loved ones and she had seen the face of evil and spat in it, but now the pain overwhelmed her. They would pay, all of them. Ignoring any defense the enemy tried, she just kept attacking faster and faster. Staff bolts smashed into her armor, slowly melting the outer layer of the shell. Only luck and her friends kept her alive, as she fought, giving quarter and wanting no mercy.

Beside her, fighting as fast as they could just too keep her alive, were Dawn and Anakin. Both felt shocked by the mad rage they were seeing in one they loved.

With a crazy speed she ripped the staff weapon out of a Jaffa warrior's hand, only to push it back in and out of the other side of his body. Grabbing another Jaffa's head, she twisted it and using kinetic strike, she crushed the head between her hands. She didn't care as she just picked up another staff weapon and used it as a club.

Confronted by the rage of a berserker telekinetic the remaining Jaffa started a fast escape.

Like a mad dog Lexa was about to run after them, ignoring the fact that her PSI-badge was now empty, with no more super charge. Ignoring the fact that her own PSI-Endurance was finished, and she had nothing more than the power of a 16 year old well trained girl going postal. Her feet were heavy as she stumbled forward while intending to kill them all, even as her strength had vanished and her speed was gone.

But she was stopped as Anakin grabbed her head between his hands, pushed with the force and said, "SLEEP".

Like a puppet with its strings cut, she fell.

Dawn wished she could wipe away the tears she had in her eyes, but the helm visor was in the way.

Behind them, SG-12 and the Kull both stared in shock and quite a bit of fear at the end of the battle. The two hostile groups decided in unison that today would be a bad day to test the two remaining fighters.

The Kull sneaked away.

The SG-12 team stayed and they whispered in shock. The light saber, Jack O'Neill, Star Wars... What have we done? The shock of Lexa' anger turning against them, their induced paranoia had finally lifted and the general sentiment left behind was 'Oops, we might be fucked".

Later, in their nice comfortable cave hide out

Dawn put Lexa on the comfortable camp bed and watched her sleep. She was bruised and had more than one burn mark on her body, but a basic first aid kit would take care of those. No worries there. Dawn was more worried about her state of mind.

Beside them Anakin was going through Lexa's armor. By pure luck, the shell armor was melted and gone beyond what he could fix or repair without her receiving serious injuries at all. She would have to build a new one, though. Not really surprisingly, the armor is made to take the break, instead of letting the trooper inside break, and her armored body-glove... Well, it had seen better days for sure. He would have to help her repair it. He swallowed as he realized that she could have died. Lexa could have died. She should have died and it was luck, only luck, that had kept her alive. Keeping his moist eyes down, fighting the urge to break down and cry, he kept trying to repair the armor as best as he could just to keep busy.

Things like how much pain she did suffer while being kidnapped, brainwashed into a slave and operated on were going through his head. How much anger and pain did she really carry inside her?

Sometimes Lexa felt like a younger, sexier and female version of Xander, Anakin thought. Nothing would or could break Xander. Even in the darkest moment he would always pull back from the brink of darkness and then joke about it.

Lexa wasn't a female Xander though, she was Alexandra and she had suffered and they had not been there for her as they should or could have been. Mush too often she'd just ignored bad things or kept them to herself. At least as a PSI, Lexa would not risk falling to the dark side. There was no evil darkside waiting to destroy her, only what was in her own heart, and if he knew anything, it was that Lexa was a good girl with a heart of gold. A heart that had suffered lots of pain, but he would help her with that. Dawn and he would help her. He just hoped she would let them do it.

Dawn was scared and confused and out of her league. Thinking back, she remembered Lazarus Slade. It took some time for her to recall it, but she remembered what the guy had done to Lexa.

Her mind's ability to suppress bad memories made it difficult to get an exactly clear memory and the Slade memory already started to get fuzzy. Had an enslaved Lexa attack them or not? She wasn't sure.

She knew that Lexa would be fine in the end. There was no alternative to it. Lexa would wake up and it would be fine. All of them would be perfectly fine, she thought. Smiling a bit as she pushed some of Lexa hair away from her face, she whispered softly, "Sleep my friend, sleep". The scary memory of the berserker in Lexa made her totally confused. Her memory was actively trying to suppress it faster than ever, so painful was it for her to remember.

She pushed the recording on replay. She would not forget what happened, not yet.

Anakin watched how Dawn tortured herself by watching the fight one more time. He could feel confusion, sadness and happiness fighting inside her and he could do nothing. Her strange disorder was trying to suppress or delete the memory as it was too awful for her to comprehend. Faster even than what had happened with the Dagger corvette. Those memories he knew she had re-written into a less awful fantasy. A fantasy Dawn believed was the truth, and the memory of this fight would soon be the same. Just this time Dawn would not let her mind do that. She constantly used the recorder to remind herself of the ugly truth. It left her afraid, confused and crying.

"Dawn," he said. "Stop doing that. Lexa and I know you. We love you as you are. Faults and all, it's thanks to you that the two of us smile so often. It's thanks to you that we are always having fun. Just put the recorder away and be happy that you will not remember that battle like I have to, like Lexa will," he said while grabbing Dawn hand, hugging her.

She looked at him, only confusion in her mind over how her beloved friend could be in such angry pain. "I need to remember. How can I help her if I don't?" she said between tears. The pain was too much.

Anakin nodded. "I understand. I just hope you won't hate me," he said, as she tried to look at him with confused eyes. His hand was pushed against her head and he pushed with the force. "Sleep," he mumbled and weakened by confusion and tears, Dawn fell asleep.

Anakin put her on the bed with a smile. "Just be our morning light Dawn, and it will be fine," he whispered. "I'll help Lexa heal. Somehow I'll do it. Xander will help, he always finds a way, and you will help us by making us laugh and bringing us the sun light we need in our life," he said, looking out at the dark night, watching for enemies while he entered a light Jedi meditation.

In the bed Dawn's nightmare slowly turned into one of her normal happy dreams. Life quickly shifted to perfection again in her mind.

Chapter 43

At the same time

"Now this is just stupid," Xander said, looking in awe at the river SG-1 had used to get far away from the source of their fear, and looking with even more awe at the rocky island that stood like a huge pillar in the wild river, with a castle carved out of the rock side itself. SG-1 had somehow managed to enter that castle or fortress.

"I say it again. This is just ridiculous," he said. "You said stupid the first time," Thunderer said, teasing its master. Xander glared at it and looked down at the castle. It had a freaking automatic staff cannon defense system and SG-1 either managed to sneak by it or activated it once they were inside, just to stay safer or both. He so wanted to hurt them.

Taking a calming breath he cloaked himself and force flew over the river. It was a bit far away and one mistake would end him up in the water, drenched, but he made it. The force flight was just about to fail him when his hands touched the fortress' wall.

Finding a grip Xander groaned at the difficulty, but managed slowly to climb up to a balcony. From there he tried to push a door open. It was locked and he had no choice except to drop the cloak and hope for the best. He had to pick the lock and then push the door open. Life was just not fair. He hoped the 'Junior team' was having a better time of it.

They were most likely telling stories, eating good food and joking around with the SG-12 team, he thought, but then sighed. No, most likely Lexa would have some nightmares. He felt the pain that she'd kept bottled up for quite a while now. He wasn't sure just how much pain she was in, but it didn't seem like anything really awful and nothing that would have made Lexa risk her own life, going postal or berserk. Just nightmares and nothing worse or Danni would have felt it and helped Lexa. How good could his sister be at hiding her emotions? Not that good, he would know if she was. Most of the time Lexa's emotions were like an open book, he thought, forgetting about the fact that Jessica Harris, Lexa's mother, was a weak PSI-telepath and Lexa had to be good to hide anything from her.

Xander smiled smugly, he so knew his sister. Besides, night terrors would be something Anakin and Dawn would be able to help her with. All of them where there when Slade had kidnapped them and talking it through together would heal her pain. Finally the door's lock clicked open and he quickly snuck inside. He cloaked himself again as he walked deeper into the castle.

"I...I think we c...can activate, the...these ships," the trembling voice of Dr. Daniel Jackson said.

"Do it and keep it together damn it. They are out there. You know it. We are the last line of defense, we... we have to survive," Cameron answered.

Teal'c voice was stoic, like always. "It will destroy us all, but not without a fight," he said. The others nodded, a grim feeling filling them.

Alison shivered. Like a brown little mouse she was sitting in the corner, trying not to be seen by the enemy. By them, whoever 'them' was. Her instinctual ability to use the force made the other three males in her group forget all about her. Even as she wanted their protection, they ignored her and she didn't know why. It was them. They made her friends forget about her. She tried not to cry.

A shadow sat down beside her. "I have not forgotten about you. You are Alison Porter, doctor in technology and also a licensed military nurse. Samantha Carter discovered you at the California institution of Technology University, also known as Caltech." He petted her head and let her hug him. "You are a brilliant young woman and scientist and you have an untrained, but strong ability to use the force. You seem to use that ability when you are afraid or sad to make both the enemy and your friends forget about you."

She blinked. "I can be a Jedi?" she asked in a soft, longing voice, with a wide smile on her lips. Xander smiled at her. "Why yes you can. Jack will have to teach you and soon this ability of yours will be under your control. Now, all of you suffer from the side effects of a PSI-Cannon hitting you. Paranoia and fear mostly," he explained.

Alison eyes dimmed as she focused, then nodded. "I get it. We have been running and arming ourselves against an enemy that does not exist," she said. He nodded. "Now I'm going to heal all of you," he said, hoping for some luck. Drawing in as much power as he could, he used the Force and sent a wave of calming energy over SG-1. "You are safe now. Remember me."

"Yeah, I remember. You are Xander, but I'm not so sure about being safe. They're after us and much worse than the worms," Cameron said. Now he was worried. What if they had followed Xander here?

Teal'c emotions were twisted. The team had never seen the enemy and yet they were so afraid of them. Daniel almost glared, eyes flickering here and there.

Xander continued forcing them to listen. "The Goa'uld had a PSI-Weapon, one that creates fear and paranoia so strong that it can cause a man to kill himself or faint in pure terror, feeling fear without a source. All of you had a shield made from junk. It gave you some protection, but...," he continued. "The whole town was filled with Jaffa that had fainted or even killed themselves from the fear they felt. You survived by running away. The shield might have miss fired and created illusions." All the time he filled the room with ghostlike force light, calming them and making them listen and trust him as he spoke the truth.

Teal'c eyes blinked and he put down his weapon. "No, what if they... It's an illusion, right? We have been running from an illusion," Cameron said, feeling afraid, nervous, paranoid and mostly ashamed.

Xander nodded and released his hold on the light. "The weapon could destroy the mind of a human. A whole army of Jaffa lies paralyzed from the terror they felt. All of you are walking around. Let go of your fear and be proud that you survived and found this incredible hidden castle. I don't think the natives even know that it is here."

"Wait a moment. That girl... Miss Parker, no... Porter where is she?" Daniel asked. He had totally forgotten about her. How could he?

"What are you talking about? We... Oh yeah, her, where is she?" Cameron said worried.

"This is not like us to forget somebody," Teal'c said suspicions.

Xander snorted and waved his hand as Alison walked forward. He used his strength to force Alison ability to turn itself off. "Alison Porter, a doctor in technology and also a natural manipulator of the force. When afraid she tries to make the enemy forget that she exists. She was more successful than she wanted and made you, her teammates, forget about her as well."

"Hi guys," a timid voice said, as she smiled and waved her hand. Cameron walked forward. "Hi Doc," he said, shocking her by giving her a hug. "I'm sorry I forgot about you. It will never happen again."

She nodded as one after another of the team gave her a hug, reassuring her that she was not forgotten and that they cared about her. Daniel smiled. "I knew I was forgetting something, just not what," he said. "You have to be really powerful in the force," he continued, looking between the Doc and Xander.

Xander shrugged. "She's stronger than Jack. On the other hand, skill beats power most of the time. Unless we're talking about a mouse fighting an elephant, then the power of size rules. Jack and Jonathan both have a knack for learning about the Force at a speed that is out of this world. I have never seen anybody pick up things that fast, and I'm a prodigy myself. It took me a year to learn what normal students have to struggle for five years to master. Most were shocked over how fast I was. Jack is a Jedi now, give him a year and the guy will be a Jedi Master."

She nodded and was impressed with herself. "So don't despair if Jack starts to teach you and it takes months before you even manage the simplest thing. It can take a whole year before a student is able to do a simple telekinetic trick. With your strength, the training will go faster than normal, so perhaps two or three years over all."

"What you're saying is that Jack is a freaking genius in the force?" Cameron said. Xander nodded. "Yeah, I talked to an old Jedi Master in a dimension we managed to visit, one where Yoda was still alive," he said with a grin. "The old guy, in his 900 years of live and over 800 years as a Jedi, has never ever seen anybody or heard of anybody learning as fast as I did and compared to Jack, I'm slow."

Daniel smiled. "Cool, I always wondered what species Yoda was." Xander snorted. "I asked the old guy that. He said 'Much knowledge you need. That knowledge you need not.' Apparently all of his species were like that. Once they entered the Jedi order, they abandoned their home and refused to say where it was. Sometimes they did go home, but always with the utmost secrecy. Only a handful of Jedi or aliens ever learned where his planet was and all of them kept the secret," Xander finished with a smile.

There was silence for a moment until Cameron said, "Talk about paranoid."

Xander shrugged. "Perhaps. They are a long lived species. A force sensitive who masters the force can often double the length of his life. Being in a cold swampy environment isn't good for anybody's health. Yoda claimed that with some luck, he could live another hundred years and he was over nine hundred already," he said calmly. Exactly how long the little guy never told him, he had a feeling that it was more than a hundred years, much more.

Taking out a crystal from his pocket Xander focused the energy of the force and bended light itself to project a life size Holo picture of Yoda. He was walking around, grabbed his lightsaber and went into a fighting position, then jumping around. "That was how he looked. Only 66 cm high, he could look down on you and make you feel puny. The worst thing was that he sometimes acted like we all were just unruly children. No matter how old we got, to him humans sometimes acted like we were kids."

Alison smiled. "To him we must be," she said and the others just nodded as the Holo picture of Yoda vanished. "He looks different than in the movie." Daniel noticed.

Xander smiled. "Yeah, you have now seen the real deal." It worked. He had broken the fear and distracted them, now the healing was beginning. He hoped the junior team had had an easier mission. But for some reason he had a feeling that that would not be the case.

Note: Finally we reached the point to be even with what was posted of this fic on other sites. If you like it and would like to see more of this, a review for Hatten's work wouldn't hurt. Greetings Hawklan.


	13. Chapter 44

Chapter 44

Morning came and the smell of food was the first thing Dawn's mind registered. She saw Anakin making breakfast using some real MREs. Food they had paid for and gotten from the Galaxy Rangers. Musing a bit she giggled.

"What's so funny?" Anakin asked with a tired smile. He had stayed up the whole night, using only Jedi meditation for a bit of rest. He wasn't really tired, but he was so bored. A human Jedi could, with only a few hours' worth of meditation, stay awake for about a week without losing any of their mental or physical capacity, but that doesn't mean that they should or that it's healthy to do in the long run.

Dawn shrugged. "I remembered a children's TV series I saw when I was child. A group of teens that got superpowers from an alien and some power armor. White ranger, pink ranger, black ranger and …" she was interrupted by Anakin who said, "Thank you, I know exactly what you mean. Jack O'Neill had lots of fun forcing us to see that TV show." He grinned. "I think Danni liked the idea of being the pink ranger."

Dawn wondered why she didn't remember that. Oh yeah, Xander had her doing special training then. In reality, she had been too upset after the death of a whole crew on a Dagger corvette that she had accidently caused. Dawn had more or less learned the lesson to be careful with her powers and then forgotten what had really happened.

"I'll kill anybody who calls me the black ranger or Darth Vader junior," Anakin said with a smile. Even if his armor had been inspired by Darth Vader's, his helmet was more like the Mandalorian version though, except the viewer was bigger than what they used.

"If anybody has the right to call themselves a Power Ranger, it should be me," Lexa said, her voice was dry and broken. Her throat hurt like she had been screaming too much and her memory was fuzzy and bizarre. She had flashes of fighting enemies she knew were either dead or in a different dimension. Lazarus Slade was on Earth and a captive of the military.

She'd even talked to the guys in charge of questioning him, a chief of the military security, and donated some technology from her home world just to make sure he would not end up in a jail cell for life. Once they had questioned him, he would be executed, regardless of promises other people would make to him.

She had a feeling that the guy agreed with her thinking that Lazarus was too dangerous to be left alive and yet she had a fuzzy memory about killing him and other monsters the day before. "What happened yesterday?" she asked.

Dawn shrugged. "Nothing much, you got hurt a bit and we were worried, but it was nothing serious," she said, smiling a bit.

"Dawn, go for a scout outside. We might need to move Lexa fast," Anakin said. Dawn wondered what the secret was, but she nodded. "Well, if you don't want me to know something, just say so," she huffed and walked out to scout.

Anakin snorted, there was no easy way to say this. "Yesterday you had enough. The Jaffa attacked and you went berserker and you attacked the Jaffa back." Seeing her fear, he calmed her. "No, you didn't attack me or Dawn. In fact you seemed to recognize us even in the state you were in and stopped any attack coming our way."

Lexa nodded "I. went berserk?" she asked fearfully. Anakin sat down beside her and hugged her. "Alexandra, you have..." She glared at him for using her full name, but he just continued. "Slade tortured you. What you suffered was more than enough to break a fully trained adult warrior. You didn't break. Yesterday, you slipped a little and got angry."

Lexa swallowed. "I always try to control my emotions, I have to. Part of my powers can be activated by emotions. If I'm angry, things can start to fly around, out of control. Mom and dad trained me to never lose control. I failed them."

"Hey, you did not fail them. You got angry, hell you got furious, but you protected Dawn and me. Even in the middle of the rage you did not hurt us. You even let me come right up and grab you. Let Dawn help you by parrying attacking Jaffa. There was still enough control left for that, and do you really think that your mom and dad are going to be angry? Hell, they love you, no question asked, you know that. Don't you?"

Lexa swallowed. "Yes, I know that. I just don't want to disappoint them." Since she was young and it was proven that she was a telekinetic, one of the more dangerous PSI powers, they had instilled the importance of controlling her powers and not letting the power control her in her mind.

Once you mastered the ability, it could become emotion controlled during times of great stress, another reason why not even other PSIs liked Pyrokinetics.

"I understand Lexa. I talked to them about PSI," Anakin said. "You've just had a hard time and really need to talk to somebody about it," he said as the girl started to cry.

Dawn entered the cave and looked confusedly at Lexa crying. "What? It's not that bad Lexa," she said, looking at the armor. "We can fix it. We have the tech in the ship," she said, hugging her from the other side. "It's a bit foolish of you, crying so much over a broken armor." She gave a sunny, innocent smile to them both.

Somehow that made Lexa smile. "Yes of course Dawn," she said giggling. "Dawn, never change. Never." For some reason Dawn's stupid idea that it was the broken armor that she was crying over helped more than Anakin's words of compassion and logic. Perhaps it was the heart filled with innocence or just her let's be happy aura that she seemed to have. Whatever it was, it worked.

As Dawn moved away to check out something else outside, Lexa turned to Anakin and asked in surprise, "She's forgotten it already?"

Anakin nodded. "It took an hour and the whole memory started to go fussy on her. Seems your rage was so scary and…," he blushed and then continued, "Not to me, but Dawn was shocked and scared over you. She stayed by your side and watched the damn recording again and again, because she didn't want to forget, because she needed to understand. I had to use the force to make her sleep."

Lexa swallowed. "It was bad, right?" she asked, staring at him. He nodded slowly. "Yes, it was bad. Still, you seemed to know that we are friends, even as bad as it was."

She nodded, that was something at least. "Normally it takes days or weeks before a bad memory starts to vanish like that for Dawn and now this one went away so fast, " she said, afraid that Dawn might be hurt.

Anakin snorted. "She loves you, Lexa, and me. The idea that one of us gets hurt or is hurt is too much for her. Remember how her disorder works. It will not allow her to be to depressed or sad before it starts to repress such traumatic memories. Some, even a great dead, of the lesson she learned is still there, even if she doesn't remember what has happened," he said.

They nodded. Dawn seemed to be able to learn a lesson from a mistake, even if she often forgot what the mistake was or the gruesome details.

Lexa smiled a bit. "You fixed my armor," she smiled, seeing that he had had to use armor patches from both his and Dawn's armor, making her pale red armored body glove full of black and gold patches. He shrugged. "It worked at least."

She had to agree with that.

Outside, Dawn looked around. She had the strange feeling that Lexa needed unusual amounts of love and support right now. Why? She had no idea, nothing special had happened or had it? She almost started the playback on her recording, but no, if something did happen that was so bad that she repressed it already, then perhaps it was for the best. After all, she had no wish to see any of them get tortured, perhaps raped or whatever awful thing that had happen the day before. No, this time ignorance is bliss.

Dawn nodded to herself as she returned to the cave. It was a wonderful day outside and she was sure they would find SG-12 and help them. She had a good feeling about that.

+K+

Later in the morning

Anakin took the lead as the gang backtracked to their latest position.

He was careful and took a way around the labyrinth canyon and the field of dead Jaffa, all the while keeping an eye out on the radio scanner and using the force to sense danger and presences of other sentient lifeforms. "Dawn, why do you have a Goa'uld in your backpack?" he asked in astonishment.

"It's my new pet," she answered with a smile.

Anakin weighted his options. If he told her to remove it or something, she would get all huffy about it. "Cool, but if Xander lets you keep it, that would be a miracle. The chances for that aren't that great, so why bother? I'm sure we could find you some other cool pet that he'd be more likely to let you actually keep." 'One that doesn't have the ability to take over the mind and body of normal humans,' he continued in his mind.

"Hmm… I don't know, it's awfully cute," Dawn said. "And evil, don't forget that," Lexa added.

Sighing, she pulled the worm out of the jar. "Bye, bye Mr. Wormy," Dawn said as she let the worm fall to the sand to live or die on its own.

Anakin smiled under his helmet and hugged her. "You did the right thing, I think." "Yeah. Do you think I could get a lion or a tiger as a pet?" she asked, giggling. Lexa smiled, that would be cool. "The Enterprise is a small ship. Why not try for a house cat?" she said instead.

Dawn's eyes lighted up. "That's a brilliant idea and we could get an aquarium with goldfishes and crabs and other fun fish and a toy model of a crashed Enterprise on the bottom for the fish to play in," she said excitedly. She'd always liked aquariums.

Anakin decided not to ask why a crashed model of the Enterprise was needed. He knew his head would hurt from the answer. He kind of wondered which Enterprise she meant though, Xander's or the Star Trek Enterprise.

Lexa nodded. "Yes, that is so a cool idea. Wonder what kind of fish they have and if there are aquarium fishes that you can eat."

They all looked at her and she shrugged. "I like fresh fish. So what? Fish farming, aquaculture is like one of the most popular hobbies in my world." She defended herself. "Delicious catfish and carps, kingfish, even salmon were grown in aquariums and later, when they got large enough, they were eaten. Of course many hobbyists just had the fish because they liked having fish indoors.

"Eating aquarium fish?" Dawn said in shocked terror. Anakin licked his lips. "Now that sounds like a good idea. Fresh fish…" He just had to talk to Xander about that.

Dawn was trapped between being fascinatedly interested by the idea of fresh fish to eat and absolute terror over the thought of eating her pets. Then it struck her. "Do you think we could find pygmy pigs or pygmy cows?" Seeing them look at her she explained, "I like ham and love a good steak."

The gang was silent as they pondered the idea.

"Pygmy cows... do they even exist?" Lexa asked. Anakin shrugged. "Somewhere… It would be fitting if we got micro cows. After all, you girls did dress me up like a cowboy," he finished jokingly.

Giggling a bit they followed him as he continued forward in silence. They were all getting better, even Lexa.

Hours later Anakin crunched down and said, "Over that hill, I can sense them."

Lexa nodded. "So how do we do this? I suggest Dawn and I sneak up on the left side. We use a holo projector here on the hill, while you come from the right. Then we can surprise them and disarm them with minimum loss of life."

Anakin nodded. "That would be a good idea. Wait, where's Dawn?" he asked.

Meanwhile, Dawn had removed her helmet and was holding up a white flag. "Hi guys, can we talk?" Having so many guns, energy weapons and grenades aimed at her did make her nervous, but she counted on the ingrained instinct to never shoot a person with a white flag to work and it did.

Behind her, Lexa and Anakin looked in shock as SG-12 let Dawn come and talk to them. Slowly, they escorted her into their cave hideout.

"Now I'm worried," Anakin said. Lexa nodded. "Yeah, those poor guys."

The two grinned, keeping an eye out at the cave.

+K+

Twenty minutes later

Dawn and one member of SG-12 came back and invited them in for a talk.

They were nervous and they still missed one member of the team. They had attacked him and sent him away, because they suddenly didn't trust him anymore.

Dawn was joking, even making the nervous team relax. As Anakin came in he did his best to calm them using the force, while he explained what had happen and what the side effects were.

Slowly they relaxed more and more. Just the fact that Anakin, Dawn and Lexa were kids helped a lot. The fact that they saw Lexa go 'Conan the barbarian' on the Jaffa didn't do any harm either.

Much later, with a somewhat calmer team, they set off to the Star Gate. Anakin assured them that it would still be there. Now they just had to hunt down the last member of the team. Luckily, it took only a surprisingly short time.

The last member was surprisingly healthy mentally, just a bit jumpy, and had kept an eye out on what his team was doing. He knew they had gone nutty.


	14. Chapter 45

Note: Tx again to Inachis and Hawklan for betaing this chapter and I also have to give thanks for a great artwork cloudleonsgurl has done for my Knight Away story. Check it out here .org/Story-24255-201/cloudleonsgurl+The+Worlds+She+Never+

Chapter 45

At the same time with 'Team Senior'.

Alison was impressed. "These are starships, small Stargate using starships, a whole hanger full of them." Xander nodded. "The best you could do is leave it for now. If it's in this good a condition, then the natives don't know about it and you can get the whole team over here to explore it later."

"Yes, some of the equipment only answers to me and Cameron. Do you think it could be because we both have the Ancient gene?" Alison said, more to herself than to Xander.

It took all the king's men and all the king's horses to force Alison out of the fortress and back to Stargate command. Daniel grinned, she was like a younger version of Samantha. Shyer, less talkative and opinionated, but still, when she got going on her dohickies and gizmos, it was like Samantha all over again.

+K+

Days later

Xander smiled at seeing the 'Junior Team' and especially Lexa. He had been worried about her and then of course there was the missing SG-12 standing there, waiting for them.

Cameron nodded to the leader of SG-12. "We got hit by the PSI-cannon. Bad mission..."

The other leader just nodded in agreement.

Daniel ignored them as he punched in the return address and used the GDO to make sure they could return and not go splash and so, one by one they went home.

Jaina and Danni arrived almost like lightning to greet Xander, followed by Buffy who tried to hug Dawn to death. Sensing the turmoil in Lexa, Danni grabbed her and started to talk to her. Something was wrong. She had suffered a huge emotional trauma.

The mission briefing was long and complicated and some of the information Xander claimed was for Jack's eyes only, which did not go down well with the general in charge.

Yet Jedi were like that. He read the books and so he sighed and agreed.

+K+

Later in Jack's room

Xander smiled and started to explain the drug therapy he found out about.

Jack looked at the file. "So you're saying that this drug will force the worm and the human mind to merge? Who's in charge?" he asked.

"That depends on the personality and will power. It's a true merge and no longer two individuals. If one has strong enough a will, then it's his or her personality that will dominate the new person," Xander said, smiling a bit. "The Go'auld used special slaves, whose willpower had been destroyed. He specially trained them since they were five years or younger until their mind was broken and they were willing slaves. He possessed the bodies unusually early around 14 years of age, to make sure the personality would be easy to dominate."

Jack nodded. "And if this were to be given to a normal person while he was possessed?" he asked.

"Then it's worm VS human in a power struggle of the wills and in the end a new person would be born with the dominant traits of either a human or a Go'auld," Xander answered.

"And why are you giving this to me?" Jack asked with dread in his voice.

Xander was calm as he said, "Meditate on it. Feel the future, the past and think why I'm giving it to you."

Jack sighed. "I hate you," he said as he started to meditate, slowly feeling the paths of the future and the past. As he watched, he saw a future where he destroyed the drug and another where he gave it to the Tokra, even one where all SG team had gone through drug therapy in advance, making them bad targets if a Go'auld tried to posses them.

"No, not this again," he whined.

Xander nodded. "It will bring just as much advantage as dangers and your mission is to choose whether to use it or to forget it." He giggled to himself, as Jack glared at him.

A tired looking Jack sighed, as he walked out the door.

+K+

Next day

Xander was hunting down his target, General Henry Landry. He needed an answer. From what he found out, the Jaffa feared the Dagger corvette way too much and he wanted an answer. The sudden activation of the Stargate told him where he could find the elusive person.

+K+

A short moment later

Henry watched curiously as Jacob Carter of the Tokra walked in, talked to his daughter and hugged her before turning to the Jedi Jack O'Neill. The Tokra had been more than freaked out by the fact that the Force existed in the first place and they were still adapting.

Then the door opened and their guest, Jedi Master Xander, walked in. Damn, he had been trying to avoid him all morning. "Good afternoon Jedi Master," he said.

Xander shrugged and looked at what was happening downstairs before asking a question. "Why is the Dagger Corvette so feared?"

Henry laughed, that was good one. "Simple answer, we helped the Asgard against a race of machines and with their help, Earth started to build their own line of ships. We used the Dagger as the mold for how Earth ships will appear. Faster and simpler, it's a good design."

"I see. That explains so much," Xander said. "It is in fact one of the best designs for a warship. The Dagger is on the one hand a multipurpose class corvette. It is acceptable and good at many things, but doesn't excel at anything. Thanks to the lack of armor and low number of weapons and the low speed, it's considered a lousy warship at home."

Henry looked at him. "Really?" he asked. Xander nodded. "Really, war-corvettes usually have a lot more weapons and higher speed. The only grace the Dagger has as a warship is the fact that it's a good fighter carrier. It can have up to 23 star fighters inside, even more, but that wouldn't be practical."

Henry wasn't that surprised. "We did some changes on our war-class daggers. More armor, more weapons and more speed. They have your type of hyperdrive, one we understand and know how to repair and build, as well as the Asgardian hyperdrive, which we have to buy. It's capable of flying from one galaxy to another. Our war-daggers have proven themselves to be superior in space combat. Thanks to the Asgard, we've been able to copy and make more powerful turbolasers."

Xander was impressed. Those Asgardian hyperdrives seemed to enter deeper into hyperspace. "The Asgard are good at building hyperdrives?" he asked. Seeing the general nod and say yes, he continued. "Would it be possible for me to talk to an Asgard?" he asked, almost drooling. He had a PLAN.

Henry frowned and then nodded. "There is one helping us at the yard. If you wish, I can arrange for you to talk to him."

Xander's smile was evil, totally evil. "Yes do that," he said. 'Finally Han Solo, your Falcon is dust behind the Enterprise,' he thought. Now he was going to see Lexa, she needed her family. With that he walked away, absently scratching his gills and freaking out some of the personal. They just weren't used to seeing humans with gills, what wimps.

Down on the floor near the Stargate, Jack was talking to his favorite Tokra, Jacob Carter, and his least favorite, Anis.

With his Jedi power growing stronger, he could feel the mental difference between the Goa'uld and the Tokra. The Goa'uld were evil egocentrically assholes. The Tokra were annoying, condescending and caring. Most of them actually cared deeply for their host.

He'd really disliked Anis before, but now he knew she cared. She believed that the human race was moving too fast and would destroy itself. So she did what she felt she had to, to slow them down. Still, she WAS annoying.

After Samantha and Jacob had welcomed each other and hugged and talked a bit, they walked over to his Jedi-cave.

The soldiers on the base had given the place that name. If the Dark Knight Batman had one in the comics, so why not a Jedi Knight? He loved the name.

The Jedi-cave was a former storage room Jack used as a training room for lightsabers, meditation and relaxation. Jonathan and Teal'c were often found in here. He also had a work bench where he repaired his blade and training robots. Oh all right, his wife Samantha actually did that.

Last was the Jedi computer with a copy of most of Xander's training manual down loaded on it.

After sitting down on a pair of comfortable sofas Jacob said with a smile. "So this is the famous Jedi Cave. I expected more secret Jedi fighting equipment."

Jack rolled his eyes "I'm working on it. At least I have trophies," he said, pointing at his trophy wall, where broken Jaffa and Goa'uld weapons were hanging.

"I do not understand, nor do I care about this. You said you wanted to talk, now what is it?" Anis said.

After reading the information Xander had given him, it had struck him that Anis the Tokra was actually male, as only queens were female and they are rare.

"Oh yes, thank you for reminding me. Xander, my Jedi Master, dropped by on their cross dimensional journey and yes, they brought human usable and created toys. He decided to go on a mission and brought back some interesting finds," Jack said, before showing them the drug and explaining about it.

The Tokra were silent. It would turn them into true symbiotes.

Last he showed them the gender bender modulation technique the Goa'uld had made. "You have no queens and this would give one of you the ability to give birth to baby worms. The down side is that after one or two births, the Tokra who uses it becomes sterile, permanently unable to make babies."

"What do you want for this information?" Anis said.

Jack's smile was not that evil, infact it was friendly. "Education. We find fifty young brilliant geniuses and you educate them in technology for a period of fifteen years."

Jack and Anis looked at each other and after a while she said, "We have to talk to high command about this."

Jack nodded. "One thing, I talked to the guys in charge. Any new human bodies from Earth will go through the drug therapy before you take his or her body as one of yours."

The two Tokra nodded and Jacob spoke up, his eyes glowing, showing that Selmac was in control. "High command might choose to not to use Earth bodies any longer. The gender bender device is something they would do anything for. Your wish will be granted." The former General, now Tokra shivered as if the two were fighting to gain control

"If it's safe for humans, I wish that Jacob and I go through the drug therapy as fast as you can create the drug," Selmac said, then Jacob broke the control and said, "NO Selmac, you do not know what could happen. With you or with me," he said.

Selmac and Jacob fell silent and an inner argument started as they fought over the idea. You could see his facial expression change. Every now and then one of them would become upset and argue out aloud.

Jack leaned over to Samantha and whispered, "That's creepy, he is arguing with himself. I know its two beings inside, but it's still creepy."

Samantha, even Anis agreed. "Most find it disconcerting when somebody argues with an invisible personality. Even among the Goa'uld and the Tokra it's disconcerting. Mostly, if the host and the symbiote are arguing, the two walk into a private room and stay there."

Suddenly Jacob smashed his hand on the table. "Fine, I'll do it. Just remember, if this goes wrong, it's your own fault Selmac," he said, angry.

Selmac slowly asked for control and go it. "I'm sorry. If this drug therapy is everything it claims to be, it would be great, but the others need a chance to see the effect it has. This is what the Tokra have searched for. Jacob is afraid that I could be hurt."

Then Jacob was back and snorted. "Selmac can be a pain in my butt sometimes. No, do not argue about that. You are a pain in my butt," he said to himself. "I don't like this. We should capture a Goa'uld and test it on them first."

Jack shrugged. "We can do that."

"We don't have the time. We have to test it ourself and show the others a good example or that's what Selmac says," Jacob replied.

"We have to return. No, I have to return. Jacob will stay. His and Selmac's minds are made up. It's rare for Selmac to be so aggressive in his personal wishes. I agree with Jacob on this. Selmac should wait and not jump into this experimental drug therapy," Anis said.

Jack looked at her and said, "Not experimental, a Goa'uld has used it for years. First he destroyed the will power of his bodies with brainwashing from the time they were five or younger, until they were mature enough for him to take over. It combined the Goa'uld superior memory and analytic ability with the chosen humans' superior creativity and innovative talents. Those were the worms own words, by the way."

The Tokra nodded. Humans were not as good as they were with memory and while it hurt her to agree on this, she did think humans where remarkably creative compared to them. Thanks to the fact that they worked with, not against their human bodies, the Tokra had more innovative creativity than the Goa'uld, who acted like scavengers and were more copying than creating their own technology. "Selmac, are you sure? This could be dangerous to you and Jacob," she said.

Selmac spoke again. "I am sure. Anis, I am old, even among our race I'm old and dying. Twenty years left if I'm lucky, eleven if I'm realistic, and then I will fade away and most likely take Jacob with me. That is nothing he or I would like to see. This drug promises that an old Goa'uld might bond with a human and survive his own death by permanently becoming part of the human," he said calmly and in a tired voice. If this drug would make sure they would become one like their queen had dreamed of, then he would do it.


	15. Chapter 46

Chapter 46

Next day

The air base was a big open space, surrounded by miles of desert. There were fake warning signs all around it, claiming it to be a bomb testing area and radioactive. All visitors came by air or the underground railway. It was a military base that existed on no maps. Most of it was underground, leaving only a small military observation post above ground. It was a base where more aliens walked around than in Roswell, New Mexico. It was known only as the YARD.

Controlling the Enterprise like only an expert could, Xander landed on the landing pad that took the ship underground. Technicians and military watched in awe as the ship that had become a legend among those who had the right to know, and those who didn't know about it felt something big had just landed.

Xander was last out as he flipped the controls to off level. He double checked the fuel status, it was a bit low. It was time to make use of the solid fuel converter to fill his tanks again. He wondered if they had some radioactive waste he could have...

Cameron, who was sitting beside him waiting, asked, "What are you thinking about? "

"Fuel is a bit low. I have a solid fuel converter. It turns about anything into liquid starship fuel. High energy material like radioactive uranium or radioactive waste material is best and most effective," Xander explained.

Cameron shrugged. "Ask the nerds inside." If anything, he worshiped the nerds here. They always had a cool toy for him to try out. As both SG-1 and SG-12 was on active sick leave until the mind doctor said they were fine, he was on escort duty.

Jaina was standing beside Buffy, while Rona and Danni stood side by side with Lexa. A bit further away Dawn was standing beside a strange craft. Anakin stood beside her, his fingers twitching. If he only could check out its engine. Seeing Dawn bending over, trying to get a look under the craft, leaving her butt poking up, he lost track of what he was thinking. 'Nice ass that girl has,' he thought then.

Xander, just walking out of his ship, could not help but to think a similar thing as he saw both Jaina and Danni from behind. Damn, he married two fine ladies. Then he turned and looked around. Holy god of technology, this was it. A huge Dagger shaped starship was parked nearby. "Is that?" he asked.

"Yeah, that's the new design. The 'General Hammond' Dagger class war ship. Four times as fast as the ship you gave us. Nine times as many weapon systems and of its hyper speed I have no idea...," he finished.

Xander swallowed. It was sure a sweet craft. He wondered if he could buy one.

Suddenly an oversized man with brown graying hair, who didn't look more than 30 at most, if even that, said, "Welcome... welcome I'm Fredric Greylord, General and master coordinator and assistant researcher in Repulsor engineering." He was a real scientist and not just a bureaucrat, unlike many others in charge of similar things. His general's rank was so fresh and undeserved that it squeaked. He had been the best military researcher they could find with the highest skill in being an officer, making them jump him up in rank.

"It's an honor to meet you. I heard a lot of good things from Samantha and Jack," Xander said to the man, to his relief. He had heard that the military powers, under the Presidents order, had to find somebody who was part of the military and could handle being an officer in charge of a top secret base and also had a high level of understanding in new technologies.

They had found Fredric Greylord, a sergeant in an army research station. The man had all the qualifications they could dream about, except that he was only 24 and a sergeant. A month later he was acting general in command of the new base. Now two years later he was a full general in charge of the still working base. The fact that he had been promoted from sergeant to general made some feel it was undeserved. Even Fredric himself considered it to be undeserved and still couldn't believe it.

Anyway it worked. He was a producing miracle by making civilian experts hired by the military work seamlessly side by side with the military experts creating technical wonders faster than the Pentagon believed was possible. It also created a permanently over-stressed and over-worked Fredric. The ongoing bet on the base was not IF the poor man would have a heart attack, but when.

"You have heard of me? Good... It was good, right? Never mind. I see your young friend has found our ASF Mark-1 or Air Superior Fighter Mark-1," he said, pointing at the craft Anakin was standing by. The poor man rambled on, talking to everyone at the same time and in a permanent state of stress.

"He's a rather stressed person," Xander observed.

Cameron nodded. "Yes, he is. A great leader, just not a guest greeting person."

Xander sighed. "Calm down," he said to the young general, using minimal affect mind.

Fredric took a deep breath. "Yes? You said something?" he asked, much calmer.

"I guess you have much to do. So why don't you order one of your men to play guest escort?" Xander said to the poor leader.

Fredric nodded. "I wish I could. Pentagon said I should be at your call." He sighed... What a terrible waste of recourses. He had like a million things that needed to be done yesterday.

"If you stay at the base and tell your secretary to let us in if we need anything, that would work. I can see that you are stressed. We'd get much better results with a calm guide," Jaina said with a smile.

Fredric nodded and waved a soldier over to them. "Get me major Hiking," he said in a strict voice.

"What is the ASF Mark-1, sir?" Anakin asked.

Fredric replied, "It's our first attempt to create a superior fighter using Repulsor technology. We based it on the old AH-64 Apache helicopter and used Stormtrooper armor as a base to make it lighter. We removed the main propeller and put on two stubby wings with a small rotor engine on the tip of each wing. Most of its flying ability comes from the Repulsor, the wing rotors are just for high speed maneuvers and increased speed."

He felt goose bumps every time he talked about it. "Acceleration compensator to reduce G forces, one wave-blaster cannon and one M230 auto-cannon combined with missiles and two smaller Gatling guns under each wing. The Gatling cannons and the wave-cannons targeting system is interactive and connected to the gunners helmet HUD. Anywhere the gunner turns and looks at, he aims at as well. The precision is excellent."

Finally Major Hiking, who looked more relaxed than the general, arrived. "You asked for me, general?" he said.

"Thanks Arnold. I have lots of papers in need of handling and the Repulsor lab needs my help later," the general said, hurrying off.

"That guy is working himself to an early grave," Xander stated. Major Arnold Hiking could only agree with that statement. "He's overcompensating. Getting an early promotion sits wrong with him and he constantly tries to prove that he deserves what frankly nobody deserves, unless there's no other choice and there was none. They needed somebody like him as the general in charge."

"And they got it. Could we take a look inside the gigantic War-dagger?" Jaina asked. "Could I get a chance to talk to one of your Asgardian friends?" Xander asked nearly at the same time, the evil smile once again on his lips.

"Yeah, we would like to see the Dagger as well," Anakin said. The major nodded. "Of course, you're going to have a chance to do all that. Follow me."

+K+

Hours later

Xander had vanished, taking only Anakin and Jaina with him. Then Buffy saw the Repulsor lab and did a Xander and vanished inside and the rest where left drifting around. You could hear sounds of Repulsor scientist screaming in frustration, while desperately trying to understand what Buffy was saying.

After hearing about the fuel problem, depleted uranium and even some plutonium had been loaded inside the Enterprise and R3 started to feed it to the solid fuel converter. Greedy for more, the Enterprise fuel tanks slowly started to fill up. With such high quality raw material the droid let the converter compact the fuel into an even higher energy level, making not starship fuel, but instead Star-fighter-class fuel, which was more than twice as rich in energy a ships generator needed to use. It was a slow process as the converter worked like a cow, reprocessing the fuel again and again to a higher and higher energy level.

Willow was impressed by the pure increase in technology they'd managed to make as she walked up to a medium sized battle tank with six tiny wheels under it. "Hi, what's this craft?" she asked her guide. "That's the Patton class Repulsor Tank," Sergeant Lindman said. "The wheels are there for when the Repulsor engine is turned off during parking and when the Repulsor engine needs to cool down."

Willow nodded; some Repulsor had that problem. "I see. What's the flight height?" she asked. "About two feet up to seven feet," Lindman replied.

She nodded. "You don't have to tell me the details on the guns. I don't really care to understand, just what type are they?" she asked with a smile. It had one big cannon which looked like a blaster. Lindman nodded. "It has a rail gun, a 40 mm cannon as its prime offensive weapon. A small coax heavy machine gun is mounted on the side of the tower. Behind the tower is a missile rack for ground to air defense or ground to ground missiles. Up to twelve missiles can be fired from the rack."

"How big is the crew?" Willow wanted to know next. Lindman continued to explain. "It has a crew of three: a pilot, a gunner and a commander." Willow was honestly impressed in a sick way. She didn't like engines of destruction. "That's nice. Do you have any jeeps based on this?" The man looked confused for a moment and then nodded as he translated the word jeep in to something they had actually built.

"We have the armored personal carrier," he said, walking her over to a Repulsor skiff like craft with a roof. "It's able to take 40 soldiers in the back and one driver with a flight height of 38 feet with half speed and on full speed 16 feet." Willow looked almost sad. "Don't you have anything cute? Like a Herby Volkswagen?"

"This is US research station, we don't do cute," Lindman said, almost offended. Seeing tears on the space-girls face, he quickly said. "I can arrange for you to talk to some navy hired dolphins, if you like." The girl smiled again and Lindman shook his head. 'Military hardware cute... was she crazy?' he thought.

+K+

Two days later Xander and the other two reappeared side by side with a small Asgard named Heimdal. The Asgard had been intrigued by the offer of an exchange of technology and a chance to see if the Jedi paranormal powers could help them with their medical problem.

The Enterprise was now filled with fuel again. Xander, Danni and Jaina walked into the ship and vanished, teleported to space by the Asgard ship, leaving Anakin, Lexa, Dawn, Buffy, Riley and Rona behind. Willow had left to see what the dolphins had created now that they were acknowledged as sentient.

Riley looked at the others. "Do you think they where unusual eager to get some time away from us?" he asked.

The others blinked and then slowly nodded. "Most likely," Buffy said. "With a ship full of us, the three of them never have time alone," she said, smiling. "Well, let's have some fun by ourselves."


	16. Chapter 47

Chapter 47

It took a month before they returned and Xander had a shit eating grin on his face, a smile that made Jaina and Danni giggle like crazy. He had done it. He had found somebody who understood hyperspace theory and hyperspace mathematic so well that they could improve his ship. No longer did he have a measly x0.75. No, now he had an improved x0.5 hyperdrive. They also helped him with the computers on board, improved the ring teleporter computer system and the engine was of course improved by being rebuilt and made faster.

He managed to make a deal with the Asgard. Helping them with their decaying problem by letting them copy all the information he had about cloning and having Danni trying to use some Jedi healing tricks on them in return for helping him with his ship. And help him they did. Looking over his loved ship he was in awe again and he just loved the improvements.

The greatest improvement to him was the upgrade from a 0.75 hyperdrive to the 0.5 hyperdrive, but they also installed an Asgardian holography system, which allows long range projections of holographic images. The last thing he installed with Danni and Jaina's help was an Asgardian designed healing bed. It did not instantly heal anybody, as they had chosen a less advanced version, one they could repair themselves and reproduced copies of. Combined with the doctor droids already inside the ship, they had more or less a flying hospital at their disposal now. This healing bed increased the speed of healing 5-6 times as well as helped the body to heal the correct way. If a person's species had been scanned before, it was almost as fast as Bacta and it was a lot cheaper to use than buying Bacta.

"Take that Han Solo... my ship is just as fast as yours in hyperspace and its cooler and better equipped," Xander yelled as he did a happy dance.

After many investigations of the Asgard Danni, who did have healer training, could come forward with only one solution to the Asgardian problem and that was having normal children. The constant cloning, combined with the mind transferring technique, was the source of the sickness they suffered from.

Xander and Jaina, who weren't directly trained as doctors, did investigate as well, and got the same results as Danni and the Asgardian scientist had. The problem was the fault of the cloning procedure. Combining their genetics more randomly and letting natural mutation occur could in theory heal the damage the cloning had done and save the species in time, but sadly the Asgard did not consider the matter in this way. They were a species of clones and children would change their culture. That would just be another way for them as a species to die out, in their view.

Children trained the right way would be a new start for their culture, correct? But it didn't seem so to the Asgard. Children would mean that the old ways of their culture would end and so would their culture and way of life, which to them was identical to the destruction of their species. The mere thought of having children seemed to scare or disgust the Asgard. None of the Jedi could get past these blocks in the Asgardian mind and transferring the mind the Asgardian way only worked on a clone body.

That was part of the crux of the problem. The second part was that once cloning became the accepted way of having children, the Asgardian could mentally put away the urge of having sexual relationships and using chemical therapy, it had vanished permanently.

The constant need of having sexual relationships in order to have new children was more or less seen like a social sickness the old Asgard suffered from and they as a race were now free from this awful sickness. Besides, the genetic decay they suffered from would make the birth of children impossible, they stated, almost with relief.

Jaina was silently listening to the different opinions. 'It couldn't be that easy, could it?' she thought when she finally came up with an idea. "What about test tube children? Born in an artificial womb? They aren't clones, but a genetic mix between male and female," she said.

Danni nodded. "Create a large enough number of children by mixing genes that way and let them grow up slow. No speeding up the growth like you do to the clone bodies. That way basic DNA therapy should be able to remove part, if not all of the DNA decay," she said, thinking it over.

The Asgard blinked and blinked again in surprise. What she talked about would be arcane technology to them, almost Stone Age. The Asgard healer activated his computer and double checked the value on the computer. Using modern Asgard technology they should be able to make such children with an over 60 % chance of them being free of the sickness. Amusingly a retro technology could solve at least a part of the problem, if not save them. The method was not unacceptable.

The problem was that the new generation would have to recreate their culture completely and that was also, according to them, a form death of their species. As they where a species of clones and not test tube babies, this was still not a solution, just another way for their species to die. A species was more than genetics. A Species was culture, society and biology combined and they were fighting for a way to save their species, all parts of their species.

"Test tube children instead of test tube clones, the difference isn't that great. Sure, your society will change, but this way it will survive and grow," Xander stated.

The Asgard did not look convinced. As said, they considered the genetic and the culture combined with the society to be the Asgardian race and culture, which comprised of clones.

Seeing that, Xander sighed and said, "Then die. Let you species die out, its flame forever gone, never to be seen again. No more clones." They all looked at him with shock. "Let the species of test tube babies die and never be born. You're facing Ragnarök like the old Vikings believed, the end of your world. The Vikings believed that after the end and the destruction of the old Asgardian gods, a new race of gods would arrive. A new species of Asgard. In the old myth the Asgardians rode to their death, knowing their children would create a new world." He hoped they fell for it. They where a grand species, even if they seemed to consider their society and culture all part and parcel of their species.

Thor looked at him and studied the Jedi Master, then turned to the others. Talking in Asgard he said, "The Jedi master is correct. We are facing Ragnarök. Long have we talked about species genocide to stop our technology from being stolen and to end our pain. Let's do it, let our old species burn and the new children of Asgard be born."

Heimdal looked at him and seemed to be considering the idea. "It would be a fitting end and a beginning for something new. A new species as we the old ones die," he said, also in Asgard.

Thor turned to them and spoke in English. "Your idea has merit. The Asgard as a species will die and the new species, the children of Asgard, will be born. Once they can stand on their own, we will end our existence in a fitting way," he said. They would have to talk with the others in High Command as well as the civilians about how much technology they would leave to their children.

Not too much. Better to let the new Asgard find their own path, just enough that they could do just that. Perhaps find a way to let Earth and the New Asgard be allied as they, the old ones, burned.

Danni leaned over and said, "Why do I have the feeling Xander just saved and doomed them at the same time?"

Heimdal turned to her. "He has doomed and saved us. We the Asgard have been ready to die for a long time. This way something of us will remain in the universe. They will not be Asgard, only of our blood. For us, species is culture society and biology combined. It is difficult to explain as species to us was as much genetics as it was culture and a way to live. We will give them a new start as we will burn and we'll give them the chance to become their own species." Thor nodded, now they just had to deal with the old sins of the past, like the last remaining replicators. Then they could sleep.


	17. Chapter 48

Chapter 48

One month later

Dawn kicked a rock towards Lexa. Amused, she watched it bounce off Lexa's kinetic shield that she had activated instinctively. "I'm bored," Dawn stated. Lexa agreed to that. She remembered what they had done.

-Flash back -

Xander had vanished with the Enterprise to the Asgard and she wondered when they would return. The Stargate Command said they were on their way and would arrive sometime today.

Sure, they had lots of fun during a day spent in Hollywood. Especially where the new Star Wars movie was being recorded and they got a chance to see the actor playing Xander. He was so cute and George made them all extras in the movie. Playing Jedi students, running for their lives, it was sweet and fun.

They had to ignore the fact that Anakin tried desperately not to stare at the actress playing his sister. She didn't look anything like Jaina at all, but she was a fox.

Anakin, Dawn and Willow had visited the firm creating the Star Wars RPG and with packing of Lucas' lawyer, had done some corrections to the game. Those guys were extremely confused as to why George had the backing of the US Secret Service. Anyway, now the game also included a version of Force Guardians and Force Rangers. They even wrote down the facts on Jaina, Jacen, Lowbacka and Xander for the official game.

After that, the Jedis Anakin and Dawn visited the Yellow Stone national park and enjoyed the wild life of Earth and trained there for a bit. A group of tourist had the surprise of their life when they discovered two Jedi fighting in the forest.

Dawn, Willow and Anakin had a pair of irritated NSA agents screaming at them for an hour after that little misadventure and a whole Nebraska family had to sign a non-disclosure form a mile long now that they knew Jedi existed.

Riley and Buffy vanished to Las Vegas. Rona did what she wanted to do for quite a long time. She went to Hawaii and did some quality surfing, sun bathing and watching boys do the surfing.

Lexa got a special deal with the NSA and had a great adventure by herself, hanging around in Texas with the Texas Rangers. She wanted a bit of knowledge about Earth Rangers. As the non Jedi in the group she felt it was her duty to learn a bit more about other ways to solve problems. They had been a bit unsure about having a kid of only 16 years tagging along, but the NSA had, after the Rangers signed a non-disclosure as well, explained that she was a special case and even let her demonstrate her awesome kinetic shield. End of story.

After that it was full speed.

Cordell had been so cool for an old guy and Jimmy Trivette, his partner, helped her to learn so much. They even let her go on some mission against a crocked lawyer with connections to the drug cartel.

Still, it was scary to see some of the things she had seen. Texas had suffered an economical crisis. As the power pack started to take over as the fuel for the new cars, the oil prices dropped and dropped hard.

Other states in the USA had jumped at the chance to be part of the new future and build new industries for the new technologies, except for Texas which had ended up getting left behind because the big oil cartels had tried to suppress the technology. When China and Europe somehow had gotten their hands on the power pack technology, the race to suppress it was over before it even had a chance to begin and power pack equipped cars would soon drive longer and faster with less sound than a gasoline driven car, and a lot less polution.

It seemed that the oil price over the whole world dropped with the speed of light and an economic crisis of historical levels had fallen to the oil countries in the Middle East. The USA had managed to escape it, except for Texas, which had suffered.

The result was dirty cities with poor and unemployed people using drugs, alcohol and prostitution. Texas had gone from being the second richest state in the USA to one of the poorest in less than six months.

Now, about a year after the technology had been released, the city of Dallas and the surrounding areas were quite different. Big corporations were moving out of Texas like it had the plaque. The companies scared of falling just moved the factories, dragging more companies down and leaving more unemployed people behind them. It was like a circle of destruction.

One of the new build companies was the Power Engine cooperation. A big company that had been created by an enterprising team and a loan from the government, which had made them a big time company over night. They build electric engines for cars, boats and even airplanes, as well as big truck sized power-packs.

She had seen it the first time when they drove around in the jeep, an electrical all terrain power-pack with a sun cell recharger equipped jeep. They even had a Phoenix blaster pistol and Cordel also carried a lightning rifle in the jeep.

Cordel looked at the building the corporation was in. "That is one the most hated companies in town. The PE Corporation," he said.

Lexa blinked. "Why? Are they doing something illegal or bad?" she wondered. Jimmi shook his head. "No, not a thing, actually they're trying to save Texas. They build electric engines. The trouble is all the neighbors see is that Texas fell to hell the moment the power packs came to town and they build power packs in there," he said

Cordel nodded. "It's so hated that they have trouble hiring personal. There are organized resistances against them. It really is stupid. They put the factory here in town with the hope of saving the economy and people hate what they represent so much that there are riots, sabotage and even pure terrorist action from angry civilians that lost their work and more."

Jimmi continued. "Every day another oil well is closed and each month thousands, if not more, are left without work by the oil cartels. All over the world, less and less oil is used and it goes faster than they can handle."

"Yeah," Cordel said in a sad tone.

"It sounds like you're defending the oil companies," Lexa said. "That it does and no we aren't. It's just that it happened too fast and Texas didn't have time to adapt. Now we have to pick up the shit," Cordel said.

"Right now we're on a sinking ship unless we get our asses in gear," Jimmi said and before he could say more he was interrupted by a police call. A crazy person was lighting homemade gasoline fire bombs and was throwing them on the street below.

Jimmi held his hat. "Here we go again." And then they were off. In the back Lexa was shocked. From what they had seen most of the world was singing the power packs praise, but not here that was for sure.

-End flash back-

+K+

"Hey, are you listening to me?" Dawn said, picking up another stone and throwing it at Lexa, this time harder. Luckily Lexa's kinetic shield worked again and protected her, but Dawn did get her attention. "Hey, are you throwing rocks at me?" she asked in surprise.

Dawn nodded happily. "Are you listening to me?" she returned the question. Lexa nodded. "Now I am. What?" Dawn shrugged. "I want to go home to the Enterprise."

"Me too, but we still have to wait," Lexa replied.

"Hmm. Think we can see if Rona wants to play with us?" Dawn asked. Lexa grinned. "Yeah," she said and the two rushed away and a short moment later they reached Rona.

"You want to do what?" Rona asked or better screamed.

Dawn giggled. "Inject blue dye in the soap inside the male washroom. They use liquid soup bottles."

Lexa nodded and said, "Yeah, it makes anybody using the soap turn blue later."

"And between the three of us we should be able to sneak in and out of all male washing rooms and showers and…" Dawn said, but stopped as Rona raised her hand. "I get it. Why?" Seeing the look on the younger girls' faces she snorted. "'Cause you bored. Right?" They nodded. "Where did you get the dye from?" They looked at each other, then giggled and finally Lexa replied: "Got it from Lowbacka and Jacen, had it for years now."

Now Rona groaned. "Let me guess, they wanted you to use it on Xander." They only nodded in reply. "Alright, I'm in," she giggled.

+K+

Later that evening

Cameron had been searching for the girls. "Hey stay there," he said seeing them walking around at the end of the corridor. "We got confirmation. Enterprise has passed the moon and will land in less than two hours. They're taking it slow."

The three girls grinned; that was great.

He looked at them. "What are you up to?" he asked. They turned on the innocent faces. "Nothing," they said, looking like angels.

"This corridor has only the male dressing rooms. Don't tell me you've been peaking in on the guys," Cameron said with a grin.

"If you don't say anything, we will neither," she said, trying not to giggle. In a way it was true, some of the guys were cute. Others were scary, just take the size of that guy. His hands were bigger than her whole face and standing beside him, the top of her head would only reach the top of his gut. She didn't have the guts to see if his male pride matched the size of the rest of his body.

Cameron grinned. "Come now." Seeing Ensign Freeman walking out, giving him a salute, he gave one back. "That guy is scary big." The top of his head didn't even reach Freeman neck. The guy was a walking tower.

Dawn nodded and agreed with a "Yeah."

Lexa blushed. "Big, real big," she said, while her eyes just kept looking at his groin.

Rona drooled. "Yeah well shaped, so well shaped. If I could get my hands on what he hides in his pants, I would…" The others were staring at her. "Did I say that out a loud?" she asked.

Dawn, Lexa, Cameron replied, "Yes, you did." Ensign Freeman, who was standing just beside them said, "Yes, quite loudly." He was blushing, but refused to back down.

Rona blushed a bit, but bit the bullet. "Well, if you have the time big guy, why don't we go to town and have fun?" She hadn't had real fun since she was with Zeek and he had died.

"Are you sure your legal? I don't do jailbait," the big soldier said, friendly enough.

Rona pulled up her ID. "I'm 18 years of age. Legal," she said.

The big guy, only 21 himself, snorted: "Barely legal I'd say. We can go to town for a bite to eat and perhaps to take in a movie." He'd always wanted to see if space babes were hot.

"Sounds fun," Rona said. "Tell the guys I'll be late," she said as she and the tall guy walked away. It was time to make some good memories of this Earth, she had a feeling she wouldn't be back.

Cameron looked surprised and asked, "What happened?" But he got no answer.

+K+

Later at the surface

A much more relaxed Rona walked up to the Enterprise. So sweet, the guy even gave her his phone number. Sadly for him it would only be a one night stand, but if they ever visited again, who knew? "Hi Buffy, Hi Riley, how was Vegas?" she asked.

Buffy grinned and replied, "I'll tell you later." She blinked. Why was Rona smiling like that? And was she walking bowlegged? "No way, you naughty girl you," Buffy said and started to giggle. "Was he good?"

Rona blushed. "And way too big," she said with a silly smile and a shiver. Way too big, but so good.

Riley shivered. "Too much information. Do I need to kill somebody?" he asked, looking at Rona, who just smiled at him. He relaxed. His baby sister wasn't raped, then it was fine.

They all walked inside.

The galley now had an aquarium with catfish and other fish inside of it. Over half of Xander's tomato plants had been removed. The ship looked refreshed for sure.

They all gathered by the table and Dawn nodded to Xander. "I'm ready. I know I can do it, I can feel where it is and how to get there," she said.

"I'm ready too. Both Dawn and I are ready to make the jump to our home. If you have anything more to do, say it and we can wait another 24 hours," Xander said and watched them. "If not, then we're leave in the morning."

Buffy smiled; that was so good. "Oh, by the way. Riley and I accidently got married. I'm now Buffy Summers-Finn."

"Congratulation Buffy," Rona said and turning to Riley she added. "Congratulations Riley. I hope I can still be your little sister," she said. She and Riley weren't brother and sister by blood. They just decided that they were brother and sister. She was a bit afraid that Buffy would push her away.

Riley and Buffy nodded. "Rona, we're both Force Guardians, that makes us sisters as well," Buffy said while hugging Rona.

Around the table everybody just stared.

Then Dawn screamed, "Why did you not tell me!"

"It was an accident," Buffy replied. Crap, she had forgotten to tell Dawn.

Xander smiled. Finally another day at home, he leaned back and just watched the show. Jaina handed him a bucket of popcorn.

Willow giggled and after she had congratulated Buffy and Riley, she turned to Xander. "Xander, I have a short errant to run," she said with a smile. She wanted a chance to buy some nice books.

Xander nodded. "Right well, I'll tell the SG team we're leaving in the morning. Exchange of technologies will be given then as I said."

Inside the mountain a rush started. The Enterprise was leaving.

Willow returned much later, after buying something highly unusual for her, and the last thing was a gift the NSA agents had to help her to get, as some of it was illegal.

In the end she returned with Champagne to celebrate Buffy and Riley's wedding and something special.

The others looked at the rather small container she had pushed inside. "What is it?" Xander asked.

Willow blushed. "I asked the dolphins if anybody would like to join our crew and see about colonizing another world. They said no, as it's a one way journey, but they gave us this." She opened the container. "Treasures of the sea they gathered for us to remember them by."

Inside was a small treasure. The container contained carved coral statues that lay hidden on the sea floor, tusks from walrus, and quite lot of them, one carved into an Eskimo paddling a canoe and a 2 m long Narwhale tusk, as well as strange necklaces form sunken ships and coins.

Xander looked at an interesting piece of volcanic glass polished to the shape of a lens the size of a human hand. It was interesting. Focusing the Force on it, a holographic picture of a primitive native, dressed in palm leaf and holding a spear, appeared. It started to talk, waving his hand as he chanted. Using the Force to translate, he understood most of it. This was a Force user. A Force was more like it, but they had managed to copy skills and knowledge inside volcanic glass. Knowledge only somebody that could focus the Force into light, projected through the glass, could receive.

From what the image said, they did not even knew how to read or write and after the first image another one appeared and then another. He played forward quicker. Some were preaching the darkside and others the light side. Visions of dark clouds, fire from earth and evil worms from space that would consume them followed in quick succession, then it ended.

Slowly standing up he sighed, this was something he so much wanted to research, but it belonged to Earth. "I have to give this to Jack. It's part of Earth's hidden and forgotten past."

They all agreed. Just imagining the hidden stores of knowledge in that piece of rock was mind blowing.

"I'm going to make my new lightsaber handle carved from this," Xander said, holding up a walrus tusk. It was almost half a meter long and so it would work.

Willow nodded. "I'm going to take part of the narwhale." It was so strange, the dolphins said they wanted to give us something we could use and something we would remember Earth by, she thought. "Xander NO." she yelled. "Don't give that to Jack. The dolphins said they wanted us to have something to remember Earth and something we could use. I'm not sure, but I think many of the dolphins are Force sensitive, a lot of them, or PSI sensitive."

"Then I have to tell Jack to go and take a swim," Xander said and then was silent for a moment. "Or ask one of his students to take a swim." He looked at the crystal, it was a gift and Willow was right. It felt right that he kept it as a thank you for bringing the legacy of the Force back to Earth. He just knew this would not be the only gift the dolphins would have and he had showed Jack how to do the holographic trick using crystals.

The next morning came after a celebration held by the Star Gate and Enterprise teams. They said goodbye and all their friends were there, even some big shoots. The Vice President, while the President was in England for a meeting between him and the European leaders concerning the crisis in the Middle East from the fall of the oil industry.

Jack O'Neill and his wife Samantha O'Neill Carter and Jack's clone Jonathan O'Neill were there. The much younger clone felt both sad and irritated that the woman he remembered Jack being once secretly in love with was now married to Jack and he, a clone with Jack's memory, had become Jack's son and the female he was still in love with was now his stepmother. "Hello Odipous complex. Mom, are you sure you don't want a younger model?" he asked with a smile.

Jack rolled his eyes. "And you wonder why we have family reunions so rarely, honey."

Samantha giggled. "No thank you, I like my old man and thank you." She turned serious as she said, "Why don't you try to find a girl who's near you own physical age? I know mentally you're older, but give it a chance, live and have fun."

Beside him Jonathan snorted. He was not even 18 legally. It sucked and the teen girls of the same age he was, physically anyway, felt way too young. He couldn't even understand them or their music and they looked like children to him even some who were older than he was felt to young to him. He wanted a woman, a real one, over 30 and not a giggling child with no life experience.

On the other side of the table sat George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. It was a gathering of friends and new friends. There was even a confused Texas Ranger who was seeing a starship for the first time in his life. It had to be real or the Vice President had a strange sense of humor.

+K+

A long celebration later

Xander turned to Jack, looked at him and spoke, "When I was trained in under a year, I was one of the fastest trained beings they ever heard of, and only Luke had been that fast. You Jack had only some short months to learn. Learn you did and continue to learn you have. I've seen many more powerful Jedi with more raw power in the Force than you have, but I don't think I've ever seen one as quick to learn and able to master any skill in the Force as you have been." He took a step forward and started to improvise. "Jedi student Jack O'Neill, come forth," he said.

Jack shrugged and was a bit nervous as he walked up.

Xander looked at him, eyes cold and calculating, almost dissecting Jack, searching for a fault. "Kneel," he said and Jack fell to his knees and Xander kept going. "By the Force I recognize you as a Jedi Knight, as a brother in the Force, a defender of the light and champion of life. Stand up Jedi Knight Jack O'Neill, Guardian of Earth," he said, almost lifting Jack up. Xander kept talking as he grabbed a bag that landed in his hand. "These are a gift to you. Armor like ours, in camouflage colors as you didn't like the idea of being the green ranger." That made Jack snort out a laughter, as he remember how they first met.

Xander looked at him again. "Make us proud," he said while giving his student a hug. "When the time comes, you will know it and you will abandon you title as a knight and become a master of the Force."

Jack knew it was true. He would know when he had earned that title.

Applause echoed while a Texas Ranger was silently wondering how that nut case made the bag fly into his hand.

A file with technology was turned over and the crew of the Enterprise once again vanished inside the now legendary ship.

"So me or Alison," Jonathan said. Jack answered: "You are better trained," Jack said.

Samantha smashed them on the top of the head with her fist. Smashed them softly so as not to hurt them. "Be silent and look sad or impressed. We're saying farewell and are not talking about the dolphin mission until after."

"Yes ma'm," they both said as they scratched the top of their heads where her fist had landed. Not that it hurt, but still... Jonathan glared at Jack "You just had to introduce her to the three Stooges, had you?"

Samantha sighed. She feared the day Jack's robot copy would meet Jonathan. If the three of them walked around on the same planet, not much of her sanity would or could survive.

The ship lifted off slowly and was vanishing into the sky.

The Texas Ranger finally spoke up. "Come to think of it, that ship does look like the ship in the new Star Wars movie. You know that after the Return of Jedi movie," he snorted out. "The captain even have the same name. Strange fan boys from space."

In space the Enterprise left the solar system escorted by three Daggers, two of the new war-corvette design and the first original Dagger corvette they had arrived with. Simple star fighters, based on Goa'uld fighters and the fighter technology they had given to Earth, escorted them as well.

With a silent blink they vanished from the universe.

+K+

On Earth Jack lowered his head. 'Guardian of Earth,' he sighed as he felt the thread of life. Xander was right. Earth would be his main mission. Alison and Jonathan would be the ones handling most alien problems. His mission would be in uniting Earth's nations into a peaceful union and that wouldn't be easy. Why couldn't it be aliens? That seemed much easier than trying to unify Earth. That was his Master quest though and he would not fail Earth.

Samantha looked with care at her husband, something momentum had happened, like he was faced with a mission.

"Oh no, I recognized that look on my face," Jonathan said, looking at Jack's face.

+K+

In the medical room a panic had started. An unknown sickness was spreading among the soldiers. It was turning their faces and hair blue.


	18. Chapter 49

Note: Thank you to Inachis and Hawklan for polishing this chapter up.

Chapter 49

Hidden in deep space Enterprise was flying dark. Most of the outer systems were offline and the sensors on passive, as the crew listened and meditated. They had been doing that for 24 hours now. Then finally Xander, Danni, Jaina and Anakin, followed by Riley and Rona, entered the galley and sat down with grim looks on their face.

"I searched and listened to all communication broadcasts I could find," Danni said.

Riley added. "Did the same and I also have watched the local military transmissions."

"I have meditated and was trying to find my family and helped Riley," Anakin reported.

"I did the same as Anakin and helped Danni a bit," Jaina said.

Xander face turned even grimmer. Dawn, Lexa, Willow and Buffy looked ready to cry. "I'm afraid I have to say 'We are home' finally," he said and started to laugh.

"No, I want to go home. Wait a minute... You tricked me," Dawn said angry.

Danni, Riley, Rona and Jaina together with Xander were laughing their butts off and it didn't take long before the rest did the same. They were home. Shesharile 5, here we come.

Willow was the smart one as all knew and so she asked an important question. "How long have we been gone in this reality?"

Xander smiled. "A much shorter time than we have traveled, four months have passed here," he said, relived.

The crew relaxed. More than one of them had been worried about that.

"Let's have a party and tomorrow we set sail to Shesharile," Xander said, still smiling.

Lexa nodded and Riley and Rona hurried into the kitchen. She and Dawn set the table and Willow brought forth a bottle of Champagne for the adults. Silently Lexa bit her lips and then she spoke out. "Xander, thanks to the implant a secondary PSI power has emerged in me."

They all looked at her. PSI's with two or more powers are rare. Not impossible, but rare, and most often the second or third power was much weaker than the primary power.

"That's great, right?" Xander asked her. There were some powers that were just bad.

Lexa nodded. "It's PSI-Healing powers and I already mastered the first ability, which was quite easy. Like dad said it would be. It's Poison detection. I can detect poisons and drugs in my body or if I have physical contact, in others. The second ability allows me to remove poison from my body. That's automatic and like the first, it can, if I have skin contact, be used on others. I never have been really drunk before and soon that's something I never will be able to be. So, could I please drink today?" she whined.

Xander frowned. What should a brother do? Alright, the moment her poison cleansing ability awoke and was mastered, Lexa would never ever be able to get drunk again. Tony had the same ability and he mastered it in Highschool where he had been a trouble maker, getting into fights, drinking and smoking. Then his power awoke and he couldn't get drunk ever again or get that nice nicotine kick from a cigarette.

Lexa's power of healing had started long before she ever really tried anything. He did remember once when she had been drunk as a skunk. He just had to forget about that one time. "Alright Lexa. Let's make a lesson out of this," he said, waving Willow, Dawn and Anakin to come close, even Jaina and Danni were called over.

"Now kids, I'm going to show you the power 'Remove poison' a Jedi has," Xander said. Seeing Anakin raising his hand, he added: "I know you all believe that I have shown it to you already." They all nodded. "There is more to it than just removing poison. A true Jedi can use it at a low level, giving him the ability to survive a poisonous atmosphere and to drink a criminal under the table."

They all looked confused at him and so he continued explaining. "When you remove drugs from your body, you go from sick to perfectly well the moment it's gone. That's good. The bad part is it takes lot of energy and is over directly afterwards. By using poison removal at a lower level, you use less energy and if a constant supply of poison is forced inside you, a low level remove poison will help remove it. Like if you are inside a poisonous atmosphere. The other option it to run, then stop to remove all poison before you die, then run again and stop and remove it all before you die. That isn't effective and you get real tired really fast. The low level form of 'Remove poison' on the other hand uses far less energy and keeps you from having a deadly dose inside your body. It can be used other ways as well. You can for example drink a criminal Hutt under the table and nobody will suddenly see you get sober. If they are scanning for the alcoholic level in your blood they will just believe you have an abnormal high alcohol tolerance and not that you're removing it from your body, which is good if you're infiltrating a gang of criminals."

Now the kids were listening.

Willow raised her hand. "How are you trained in this technique?" she asked.

Xander giggled, just like a school girl. "This is a method that's more or less lost. Only a handful of Jedi were taught to use it because the training methods were undignified, according to the Jedi order." Now he really giggled. "The standard method is that first the teacher, me in this instance, tells you and shows you how it's done in theory. Then you have to practice using alcohol. After we have partied through the champagne, I'm bringing out the Lum. Prepare yourself guys, you are getting dead drunk."

Jaina blinked. "I never heard of this trick before," she said honestly.

Xander nodded. "Not surprising, normally this was taught to Jedi who had an infiltration mission. The Jedi council considered it an embarrassing method of learning an effective technique. Infact so embarrassing that they choose not to teach it." He grinned. This would be fun.

Danni smiled mysteriously and the teaching/party began. It was a lot of fun, but only Anakin and Willow managed to master the skill, while Danni already knew it from her time as a Zeltron Force Witch.

As morning came most ignored it and called lunch time morning. Lexa managed to learn the basic of 'cleanse poison' and at the end of the party she quickly become sober as her PSI ability of healing removed what it considered a dangerous drug. "Crap," she sulked and she was just beginning to get really pissed drunk.

A bit later coordinates were set and ready for a hyperspace jump. Xander took a deep breath as he pulled the activation lever. They were inside Republic space, so they would have to take a detour around it. Not problem at all and with a swish they entered hyperspace.

+K+

A day later

Danni raised an eyebrow. "I got an emergency call. It says, 'To all Allied ships in the area, we are under attack by Republic forces. Help'," she said. "Then it repeats itself."

Xander pulled the lever and aborted the jump and then turned the ship around. "Alright team, get to your battle stations," he ordered.

Rona rushed into her position as top gunner, Buffy to her position as the new bottom gunner. Lexa rushed back to her position as rear energy missile gunner and Riley to his position as front concussion missile gunner.

Jaina gave Xander a deep kiss. "It's time I play in my X-Wing again, darling," she said as she bulked up in her armor and walked out, together with Anakin who wanted to fly his A-Wing.

Danni settled down as the co-pilot, while Dawn and Willow walked in. Willow sat down by the sensor operation desk, activating the jamming system and Dawn sat down at communications with R3 by her side, ready to help her decode communications.

Xander activated the ship wide speakers. "Alright team, the jump back to the battle zone is in five minutes. If you need the toilet go now or piss in your pants later."

Nobody seemed to a panic and so he pulled the jump lever again.

The Alliance of former Republic worlds had grown and just before they vanished, it had become the Galactic Federation. If Xander had learned anything from growing up in front of the TV, seeing Captain Kirk, it was that the Enterprise always saved the day when a member of the Federation called for its help.

The whirling void of hyperspace soon broke away as they entered normal space again. In the distance they could see signs of battle.

"It's one Knight Class Dreadnought followed by a Marauder class corvette, which looks to be modified," Willow said and beside her Dawn pushed the ID button. "The Nova carries one squadron of 12 attack fighters and 24 defense fighters. It also serves as a support ship for two squadrons of hyperspace capable ships and it's modified with anti-starfighter weapons."

Willow continued. "They are attacking a big 500 meter ship, Kuat drive design. It's name 'The Long Searcher'," she said.

Xander looked at the big marauder, he liked it. Then at the old ugly allied ship, the Long Searcher; it was an old ship that had worked for generations.

"We have it on file. That ship was one of the ships they gave to the Jedi order for use. It's...," Dawn swallowed and then continued, "There're civilians and young Jedi students on board."

Xander eyes narrowed. "X-Wing and A-Wing, do you copy?" he said, his voice calm, but you could hear his focus was on helping them. "Your mission is to take on and hurt the Knight class. If they use their super turbolaser, the Long Searcher will search no more."

"Understood, what's my call sign?" Jaina said, asking for her name during combat.

"No aliases this time. You are Jaina and Anakin is Anakin," Xander said. They would learn who they were messing with. "Alright, Anakin keep close to us as Jaina starts the attack against the Knight class. As soon as the enemy fighters focus on her, you start your attack on them. We come after you and take the rest," he said. He would make Jaina the spear head in the attack and Anakin would drive them away using his fighter's superior ability. It was a dedicated Interceptor design intended to fight other starfighters while the XJ-Wing Jaina was flying was an all-purpose starfighter. On their journey Jaina had improved its speed, maneuverability and armoring and she'd even installed a Minbari cloak, just like Anakin had done. Sure, 'Star Wars' technology could penetrate the cloak and it just would take some time before one of the ships would figure out how, but in the mean time it gave them an advantage.

Xander voice continued. "We are facing E-wings and A-9 Vigilance Interceptors. Near the Knight there are also Defenders."

Xander turned to Dawn and told her. "Open all frequencies." Seeing her nod, he began addressing the combatants. "This is the starship Enterprise, Captain Jedi Master Xander Harris-Solo to Republic Knight class Dreadnought. I hereby order you to break off your attack or be destroyed. This is the only warning. If disobeyed, I will give no quarter." He took a deep breath and then continued. "All fighters, lock attack positions and accelerate to attack speed. Federation vessel Long Searcher, move out as fast as possible. It's going to get hairy," he said while going to full speed.

On the other ship the captains of the attacking and the defending ship could hardly believe their ears. 'He's trying to distract us.' was the main opinion and the other was he has balls the size of the Death Star.

All too fast the XJ-Wing slashed through the E-wings like a spear, leaving wrecks behind her as she was flying closer and closer to the big Knight-class. As the E-wing started to intercept her, the A-Wing intercepted them.

The Pilots were shocked. They couldn't get a target lock on the two fighters. Their Astromech were fighting to adapt the sensors to be faster than the target's cloak could confuse them.

Far too fast, Jaina was skimming the surface of the Knight-class. Part of her mind was in a light Jedi-battle meditation, sowing confusion and fear into the hearts of the enemy.

The Defender fighters attacked, but too slow. She just moved past them, their targeting systems too simple to even get a target lock and so it was only skill and luck that could give them a hit. Still, there were 12 of them and so she did fly with a bit of care.

Her quad of laser cannons tore deep trenches in the hull of the Knight class as she had them on combined fire and every fourth shot came from the staff cannon she had installed, creating an even deeper crater as the five weapons hit the same spot. Turbolaser turrets exploded from the massive fire she concentrated on it.

Then as the Defender started to irritate her, she flipped to individual fire. Those Defenders were bugging her. As close defense starfighters, there were no better space ships. They were easy to carry inside and packed a deadly punch and so close to the surface of the ship even she was forced to fly slower than usual, meaning they could keep up with her even if they were so slow.

One by one, like a Gatling gun, the laser cannons opened fire just a millisecond away from each other in a never ending continuous rain of deadly blasts. Now every 8th laser bolt, a bolt from the staff weapon would follow in the rain of anti starfighter fire. Like a farmer plowing his land, she left behind her a burning firework of broken Defenders, before flipping the control setting on 2x2 fire.

"R6, give me a target lock. I want that turbo laser and see if you can fix that damage to the stabilizer from the lucky hit," she said.

As his sister dived in, Anakin opened fire at the E-Wings. Using his skill in 'dim others senses', he confused them as he flew in and out of the attacking squadrons. Not leaving a single A-9 alive was his second priority while his first was to keep them away from Jaina and not let them follow her under the energy shield of the Knight class.

As the battle grew hairy the Enterprise arrived. It's energy torpedoes rained down without a break, aimed at the front of the Knight class, while Buffy and Rona were shooting wild, trying to gain as many kills as possible. "Jaina, join Anakin on starfighter hunt," Xander said into the com.

It looked like she ignored him. No wait, she was flying in an attack run as her answer beeped. "Later honey."

Xander let Danni use the auto-blaster, tagging as many enemies as possible. He used the double staff cannon on the top himself. It was a heavier version than the one Jaina was using on her fighter. Soon the Knight class was moving, changing its direction, keeping the attacking XJ-Wing from hitting its nose and the twin super heavy turbolasers mounted there, but it was too late. An explosion in the front told him one of the big ones was out of commission and the XJ-Wing turned to hunt E-wings.

Xander joined Jaina, while Danni tagged heavy turbolasers with the auto-cannon, marking them as targets that Buffy, Rona and Lexa were destroying as fast as they could.

A quick breath away the scared captain saw that the Enterprise was going for his engine, the most vulnerable area of the ship and he was quickly running out of friendly Piranhas. And the one outside was sniffing the blood of his wounds.

"Defenders to the rear, to the rear," he screamed out an order, but on the outside there were not that many Defenders left. The hangar ship was ordering its Defender fighters over to support the Knight class, but they would be too late.

"Bottom, up, torpedo, take out the cannons, all of them. Willow, give them priority targets. Missiles, focus on engines. If you target is clear, fire at will," Xander ordered.

Up and bottom or Rona and Buffy followed by torpedo or as Lexa got a quick target lock and opened fire. Some of their rain of death even hit the targets.

Riley waited until he had maximum chance of hitting his target and then he opened fire and emptied all missiles at the engine. For a moment it looked like the Enterprise was exploding as a rain of twin fire erupted from the two missile launchers. Then they started to explode inside the engine.

In the rear of the ship Lexa could only watch in envy at how skillful Riley was. Her proton torpedo did more damage than his, but had the benefits and disadvantages of both energy weapons and missile weapons. As with energy weapons, you could only shoot in a straight line and like a torpedo, they could penetrate energy shielding and were slower than an energy weapon. Fast fighters could out maneuver and even out fly them.

Of all the gunners in the ship she was the one missing most targets. Not because she was bad, but because the torpedo would only fly in a straight line. The missiles up front could maneuver and find their own target once locked on it.

One by one the missiles hit the engines which were one of the weaker points of the ship. The Knight class rocked in space as two of the six main engines were blown apart. "Get us out of here," the captain ordered. "Damn, those meddling Jedi kids and their Force Rangers." He had lost two engines and all cannons at the back and behind them the Enterprise changed direction. Directly at the hangar modified Marauder corvette.

The crew panicked. They had lots of anti starfighter cannons, but they had trouble getting a target lock on the ship.

While Xander sped up Danni said, "The Knight class is trying to distract us. It's setting up to fire at the Long Searcher," she said

"What's Jaina doing?" Xander asked.

"She and Anakin are still dancing with the E-Wings," Willow answered him after she glanced at her sensors.

Xander frowned. "I'm going to show that asshole," he said as they sped back. This time he would show them. "Riley, if you can shoot, do it and if not, keep reloading. Lexa, it's your show," he said.

Riley ignored it as he took a drink of milk while the auto-reload system was filling the totally emptied magazine.

Lexa nodded to herself, as she started to aim. "What am I shooting at?" she asked over the com.

"We're going to take out another engine," Xander replied and the Enterprise slowed down and gently turned around in space. "Take your time, one at a time," Xander said to the young Force Guardian.

He opened the channel and said in a mocking tone. "What a nice sitting target your engine makes."

Lexa giggled and opened fire. Her energy torpedoes sped out and one after the other hit the engine, blowing away meter after meter of hull armor, until another engine died.

Still using the open com Xander said, "Time for engine number four, whenever you're ready," he said.

"Fighters incoming! Anakin is in pursuit, but he's not going to make it in time!" Willow suddenly yelled.

Xander took a deep breath as he focused his will on the two fighters attacking him. "Miss, you are going to miss," he said using the Force to utterly confuse the minds of the two pilots.

A rain of fire came down at them, and every shot missed. Lexa quickly fired the next rain of energy, torpedoed in to engine number four. Buffy and Rona didn't miss and so the two fighters were now dust floating in space.

Now the captain had had enough. He ordered full possible power away from them. On full power the mighty Knight class started to flee, limping slightly from the unbalance caused by the blown up engines. Slowly it picked up speed and it raced away from the battle.

Xander smiled a grim smile. "Now Marauder Corvette Nova, lower your shields and disarm your weapons or be destroyed. This is your only warning. Jedi Master Xander Solo-Harris out," he said, trying to bluff them.

Beside them the Long Searcher was coming back. Its hull was filled with deep craters and a ditch burned into the hull by the powerful hostile fire. Evidence that they had survived a glancing hit by the super heavy turbolaser cannon were seen as well and only five of its normal twelve batteries still worked.

The Long Searcher was not a military ship of war. It was nowadays a military transport for civilians and a cargo ship. It was an old ship, over 300 years old. It had worked more than 200 years as a deep space search and rescue ship, patrolling the space lanes big and small, finding and saving people whose ship had crashed or broken down in deep space or who'd been forced to land on wild planets. Its story was old and the many crews that had served on it had far too many stories of the ship for them to be told under even a human life time, which is what gave the ship its current name, the Long Searcher.

From the look of the damage it had taken, this would be the end of the Long Searcher. Repairing it would cost more than buying another used ship its size would. From what the crew reported, its hyperdrive was still working, so it would be able to limp back to a friendly port.

The corvette was silent. Its cannons were for anti-starfighter use and they only had 8 turbolasers. Not much against the wounded Long searcher and Enterprise.

Then the com lit up and a Duros Captain was seen on screen. "This is captain Sheelaren of the Nova. We surrender," he said as the ship powered down.

Xander smiled. "Captain of the Long Searcher, would it be possible for you to lend us a price crew? I, as is my duty as watchman of the Minos Cluster and Jedi Master of Shesharile 5, here by take the ship Nova as a price ship for Shesharile and the future use of the Jedi order, with standard pay afforded for the price crew."

The answer came quickly.

Note from Hawklan: So here is the next part for this great story, sadly it will be the last for a while, even if more is already written. I just don't have the time at the moment to go over it first and then give it to Inachis for a bit more fine tuning. So if you like the story as we do and have a bit spare time and like to work hard for a bit, feel free to send me an offer to help, but only if you really mean it. Offering help and then not coming trough is sadly happening a lot and only results in more time until the next chapter is posted.


	19. Chapter 50

Note: Thanks again ton Inachis and Hawklan for beta reading and wow the fic turned 50!

Chapter 50

The Long Searcher was happy to lend out a price crew and soon the Enterprise was parked inside the Nova. The captain of the ship didn't look that happy, but dared not to risk angering the Jedi and soon they were jumping towards home.

"Um Xander, why did you commandeer this ship?" Buffy asked her friend. Xander smiled at her and replied, "As a way for me to say that I'm sorry that I was gone so long."

The others blinked at this reply and Xander continued. "Besides, it's nice traveling in a big ship now and then. Return in style, I say, and this ship has a long range hyper radio so we can call home. The databanks also contain a lot of military information. We need to learn about what has happened during the four months we've been gone."

The course was set to the Minos cluster and it would take them around 2 days to reach it. Of course the Enterprise could have done the journey in half a day, but two days were better, as Xander felt the need to do some research. He'd already read about some places that he as a Jedi master would have to do some clean up in.

As the price crew inspected the ship and handled the controls, Xander, Jaina, Danni, Riley, Willow and the rest sat down and started to read the news.

The Imperial Remnant had officially joined the Galactic Federation or simply just the Federation. The Imperial Knights had been offered and accepted a place on the Jedi Council as a brother order. Vice versa, a Jedi Master served with their Council of Masters. Likewise, a Master of the Jensaarai served on the Jedi Council as a Master and vice versa.

The big three orders were joining forces, even if there were differences in their philosophy.

The Jedi were searching for mastery in the Force. They served life and order to protect peace and justice against the forces of evil, where ever they are. The Force and the power of life was the guiding solution to most of Jedi problems. Individualistic thinking was encouraged as long as it followed the basic rules set by the Council: protect peace and justice.

The Imperial Knight's life circled around serving the light and the Remnant and hopefully the Republic. The Force was a powerful tool to them, nothing more. Duty was all and the dark was their enemy. Strict mental discipline and obedience to orders was their credo. Never use the Force in anger was an integrated part of their code, just like for the Jedi. They wanted to protect the nation and the leader of the nation against all external and internal evils.

The Jensaarai were focused more on protecting their own home and family first and in doing that they were actually more aggressive against any enemy than the Jedi or the Imperial Knights. Unlike the Imperial Knights, they focused more on the Force, but not as much as the Jedi. They were more concerned with the protection of their own home first and then the galaxy at whole.

You could see the Jedi as priest warrior, acting on and judging the path of justice and peace using their own instincts. They were deeply spiritual and trained in all aspects of the Force. Sometimes they were so deeply trained in that aspect that some other essential skills were lacking.

The Imperial Knights were warriors or soldiers of the Force. Trained in all kind of combat, the Force was just a tool for them. They weren't specialized in the Force like the Jedi.

The Jensaarai were the true church knights among the three orders. They were noble, yet spiritual, and aggressive only when defending their homes.

Different ways of doing the same thing. As an explanation it was almost too simple, considering that a Jedi was also kind of like a knight-errant or a paladin, one that traveled the land seeking problems and trying to protect the galaxy as a whole.

The Jensaarai didn't do that, they protected the worlds they lived on and mostly thought the galaxy could handle itself, focusing more on the now and here, unlike the Jedi who focused on improving the future. And the Imperial Knights? Well, they served their home as an elite military and Special Forces all rolled up in one. The Jedi and the Jensaarai didn't act in that way. Both the Jensaarai and the Jedi often used trained soldiers or rangers to help them with non-force things, like piloting. The Imperial Knights did all of it themselves in teams. The level of their Force skills was often limited, but they were very skilled in the areas they knew.

Xander had meditated over the different ways of doing the same thing. All three paths could offer a superior solution to different problems. A group consisting of a member from all three groups serving side by side would be an incredible asset.

The Force Guardians and the Force Rangers were groups the Jedi and the Jensaarai had great use of. The Imperial Knights had soldiers, even storm troopers, to help them with mundane problems, but they could mostly handle those themselves.

Allied to the Republic itself were the Mandaloorians, clans of warriors seeking honor in combat. They were only asking that they be the first on the ground in any battle being fought and paid well in honor and money. A Mandaloorian pirate patrol had been formed. Like bounty hunters, they sought out the bigger pirates and took them down.

Things had gone wild here while they were gone. Shooting wars between the Federation and the Republic were more active now. Four new players had joined with the Federation and the Republic had regained some old territories, but its laws had become even worse. Slavery was now openly allowed in Republic space. Also, rumors of internal fighting inside the Republic were flying around. A power hungry fraction threatened to tear the Republic in half.

The Federation considered one as bad news and the other as worse news, which was followed by the really awful bit. Piracy in the galaxy was at an all time high. Never before had so many buccaneers, privateers, mutineers, slavers and pirates hunted their prey along the hyper roads, never before had so many smugglers practiced their trade among the ill forgotten worlds, captured in a trade blockade.

It was an age of low level war, high war and crime war, the age of adventure and suffering. It had already started when they had vanished and it was avalanching now.

The future looked grim with spots of brighter possibilities shining here and there, coming and vanishing all the time, and as a bright light in the galaxy, the Federation stood almost alone. The Old Republic was truly dying and it refused to die alone.

Slowly, the outside world turned dim as Xander's eyes were lost in the many possible futures flashing by him as he tried to find the best and correct path with the least amount of spilled blood on it.

+K+

Two days later

They were home. The Nova was impounded for now and the Enterprise landed at the newly rebuild Jedi Academy or as Xander liked to call it, home.

As they landed he could see the Jedi teachers and Masters of the school. Jedi Master Biije was a Bith born among the peaceful Bith species and Xander considered him to be second in command. Then there was Jedi Knight Jaden Korr, who like Jaina and himself was trained by Kyle Kartan. Just like Xander, Jaden was a protégé in combat and excelled in unusual areas such as survival. He knew and could teach students how to use the Force to survive in almost any hostile environment.

Next Xander saw the actor and part time Jedi and former, against his wishes, Dark Jedi and Imperial Inquisitor, Jaalib Brandl. Only his fanatic love to the art of acting and the magnificent theater show he had created and played in for his own and the Emperor's amusement had saved him from truly becoming a Dark Jedi. The only reason he was even at the academy was that he loved his wife and loved teaching or acting in front of an audience. So, he often held lessons in history that captured the attention of everyone. They might not be historically correct, but at least they were entertaining. Then there was his wife Fable Astin, former rebel spec. forces. She was a good actor who considered acting to be a fun hobby. She was a Jedi first and last, much to Jaalib's frustration.

Her skill in the lightsaber was great, but it was her skill in teaching the younger students that excelled over all other areas. Those two truly were an amusing pair, as they sometimes acted out a scene from a book or a holo video as it should have been done if a real actor had been hired.

The most were welcome sight were Tony and Jessica Harris, Lexa's mom and dad, and an alternate version of his own mother and father. Tony was gifted as a PSI-Healer and Jessica as a weak PSI-telepath. The two had joined Xander and adopted him, which he was more than pleased about. This Tony was so much better than the drunken and abusive bastard version of Tony he had as a father, likewise with Jessica. She was not a drunk like his mom. Instead she was a doctor and a well trained nurse and mind-healer. The two were working as the healers of the Academy.

Lowbacka, another one of his friends, was there as well. He often made the Academy his home when he wasn't out on a mission, and standing near him was Alice Smith, another Jedi. Her mother Marion Smith was from Earth and had arrived here the same time Xander had. Marion had been cloned fifteen times before being rescued. Of those clones, only Alice had been Force sensitive. Her aging, physically and mentally, was sped up so she looked to be in her early 20s, even if she was only a 4 year old clone. After two years of training by Luke she had asked to train in Xander's academy.

Alice was Biije's most unusual choice. Except for her ability to learn, she had no real life experience. Biije said she was a special case and being here gave the young clone a chance to stay away from stress and learn to be human.

Besides those a lot of other people also stood waiting. Some Xander knew, some not. From what his SIC said, it was mostly Jedi who had joined his Academy for a short time for one reason or another.

Jedi Master Luke Skywalker and his wife Jedi Master Mara Jade-Skywalker and little Ben awaited them as well. Xander wasn't sure how old Ben was now. He guessed he must be around four years, perhaps five, but he wasn't sure. Beside them also stood Han Solo and Leia Organa Solo, Jaina's parents.

All in all quite a lot of people waited for them and Jaina was extremely pleased seeing Winter there as well. Winter had been Jaina's and Jacen's nanny and protector when they had to hide. In many ways Winter had been more of a mother to them than Leia had been. The first five years of Jaina and Jacen's life and later Anakin's had been spent living alone with Winter and a nurse droid to protect them against Leia and Han's enemies. When they finally were returned to Leia and Han, Winter silently sneaked away to let the family become a family.

Jaina loved Winter, she was like a second mother to her and she knew poor Winter had vanished just to make sure Leia would have a chance to bond with them as their mother. Jaina knew only a little about Tycho, Winter's husband. Just as Winter, he was an extreme private person. The only thing she was sure about was that the two were trying to have children using cloning techniques and doctors to make sure none of Winter's children would be born with her holographic memory. Winter had once said that if she found out that her baby was born with that curse, she would end the child's life rather than let it suffer.

Finally the Enterprise landed softly and they walked out. Well , in the case of Jaina and Lexa, they rushed out.

Jaina and Jacen rushed together and hugged. Their Twin bond was reconnected and two halves were whole again. "I missed you and you have grown," they both said, smiling a bit, before letting the other one go.

Jaina, while Xander slowly walked out holding Danni's hand, rushed over to her parents, giving her mom and dad a crying hug. She then looked at Winter. She could feel that not all was fine with her or with her mind. "Winter, I am so happy to see you," she softly said. Winter didn't like to show emotions where potential enemies could detect that.

"I am pleased to see you, Jaina," Winter said with not a spark of love in her eyes, just a neutral look. Only those that knew her could see the love glittering in those pale blue eyes

Tycho was standing nearby and almost protective around her. She wasn't fine, which wasn't surprising. Winter had lived far longer than most with her ability ever did.

Jaina smiled, hiding her emotions, and turned to Luke. "Uncle Luke," she said quickly, hugging him. After all, she could hug Winter later in private, when it wouldn't cause her more discomfort.

Xander walked up slowly after her. "Hi," he said, hugging his mother and father in law, before turning to Tony and Jessica. Lexa was being hugged to death in their arms and he was about to turn around and wait when Tony's strong arm pulled him in to a big family hug. "Missed you son," he said proudly. Even if this version was not his natural born child, he was just as great.

Xander nodded, hugging them all back. A family was a great thing to have.

Looking around he almost didn't recognized anything. The place looked like something from an old English or American university, with trees growing around the yards, walking paths and an ugly building standing next to the Academy.

Shortly before they ended up traveling to alternate realities the old mansion had been blown up. No more school, but the government on Shesharile wasn't about to lose the Jedi Academy and so they helped to rebuild.

The old mansion had been built by a rich man as a mansion of luxury before the Clone Wars. It was gone and nothing but ashes remained. This new mansion was no less impressive in size, but it was a far more functional. It had separate washing rooms for boys and girls on the basement floor, girls and boys dressing rooms, and special cleaning rooms for beings with special needs. A community bath for exercise and relaxation. Training rooms and a big kitchen, all tucked away in the basement. As the whole building was next to a cliff the basement also had one wall with glass steel windows showing the sea and the sun set, making the space full of light.

The bottom floor contained the kitchen and dining room, a library Giles would have loved, meditation halls and a communication centre. It also had a big first aid station with a doctor droid. Jessica often, but not always, worked there as well.

The first floor was for private student rooms with two students per room. The second floor contained private bedrooms for the teachers with their own bathrooms for each bedroom. A smaller bathroom for relaxation was included in Xander's master bedroom. If you could call it a master bedroom, it was more suite with a big kitchen and living room, two toilets, one bathroom and a meditation and small gymnastic room.

Outside was a big walk out balcony that stretched around the house in a half circle. On warm days you could even sleep out there or have a big dinner parties or train with light sabers on it.

There was also a private teacher rooms for them to relax, eat and have meetings inside and at last there was a small private holo chamber, guarded by top of the line security equipment.

Around the yard there were now a lot of smaller cabins and one big long house. The big cabin was for older students, where they had each one room. The smaller cabins where for married teachers and some students to live in, since not all wanted to live in the main building. If needed, some students could get a cabin to live in. The Herglic for example, a race that was around 2 meter tall and 2 meter wide from shoulder to shoulder, would find it hard to share a room with small puny humans.

It also had a work shop isolated from the rest. A place students could meditate as they built their lightsaber without disturbance. That building looked more like a jail cell than a workshop really.

The Academy was built with simple effective dura-concrete with big windows and a separate wing which was used as the main library.

The government had donated more land to increase the size of the yard as well.

The Academy could now hold up to 300 students and perhaps 50 teachers, all living in the university area, if all the little cabins were in use. They currently had only 20 regular teachers and of them only 10 lived in the Academy, the rest used repulsor cars or other means to come over.

The number of students was quite high in Xander's opinion. Currently they had around 50 students.

He had no idea about the number of Force Guardians that lived in the compound nearby or how many students, doctors and nurses worked in the hospital.

On the big yard belonging to the Academy there was now quite an ugly garage/hangar. It was built, it seemed, to lean over the yard towards the house like a drunk on its way to make a pizza delivery. It was functional, with quite an efficient design on the inside, and a real pain for the eye. Whoever designed that building must have been blind, drunk and high on drugs.

The inside was useful though, as they could park a 200 meter ship in it and still have room over for the Enterprise. The engineers theorized that the Academy would increase in size and so they made provisions for it in advance. So far, anything on the inside was effectively designed, no wasted space and it was great.

Jaina, after seeing that monster, was torn between tearing it apart or just hiding it. Xander was confused by that. How could they hide a building that big?

Jaina's answer was simple. "Get some digging machinery and make a hill around the west side wall. Around the other side we plant trees. Hide it, paint it, cloak it, just make it go away. I don't care," she said and he agreed.

Just outside the yard stood a building that was Xander's gift, a hospital where planetary doctors belonging to police, navy and other instances were being trained side by side with Jedi healers and Force Rangers, all paid for by money Xander and the Jedi order had arranged. It was mostly civilians that were treated there and only a small number of civilian doctors were trained there. They had other hospitals that trained new doctors. This was a smaller hospital and trained them in improvising techniques during catastrophes and how to operate or save the life of a, for you, unknown species.

Tony Harris was one of the doctors or PSI healers in that building, even if he spent half his time at the Academy. His power made him skilled in detecting things wrong in a patient, even if he had a limited license of practice only. He was only allowed to threat humans and 5 forms of near humans.

The last was the Force Ranger compound that had being build to Xander's surprise. The local Minos cluster had build up a Force Ranger unit and started a training camp for them. They had a smaller compound than the Academy and where close enough so that they could learn how to work side by side with Jedi.

Xander plotted to make side by side training happen quite often. He had seen more than once how Jedi skills and Force ability came up short and a person with nothing but mundane skills and experience saved the day. No, most Jedi where to focused on the esoteric knowledge and perhaps knew how to fly a starship, even if most of that was only as point A to point B type of piloting. That was what made the Rangers so useful. He would make sure the officers in the Ranger organization knew how much he appreciated them and that he would like one of them on his team of teachers.

Last was the outdoor running track and the sand beach. It all looked more like a university campus now than a rich man's luxury mansion and yard. Still it was a relaxing area near nature, where you could calmly walk between the cabins and the hanger, listening to the birds in the trees.

He loved it all, except the hangar. It was far too ugly and they really had to find a way to hide it somehow.


	20. Chapter 51

Chapter 51

(In the bathroom, later that evening)

"What is it Jaina?" Xander asked his wife. "It's Winter. She found a... she found a drug therapy she's using and she might live a normal life length. The doctors are hopeful," she said, sniffing. Xander captured her in a hug and lifted her up so that she was sitting on his knee and then he smiled. "And that's why you called me in here? Or did you want to take a bath with me?" he grinned.

She rolled her eyes. "No silly. Well maybe later. Winter, she and Tycho asked for our help to find a safe place to live and raise their children. I told her she was welcome at the academy." Jaina rolled her eyes. "She of course said that wouldn't be proper unless she had the approval of the Master of the Academies."

"That's supposed to be me, right?" Xander said and rolled his eyes. "They are more than welcome to live here as long as they follow the rules. No fighting and help the students to learn." He grinned. "I'm sure a person like Winter would know a thing or two and the same goes for Tycho," he said with a smile. "So should we wait or?"

"Let's get out," Jaina said after she gave Xander a long kiss. She loved Winter, even if her somewhat old traditional ways drove her crazy. Her 'Don't show emotions' was a shield to protect her against the pain of seeing people she loved die.

+K+

Moments later by the dinner table

Luke, Xander and Jacen were talking about the trouble they had had lately and Xander agreed to some of the things that needed to be done and that they needed to be done as fast as possible. Other things could wait for now. "I have technology from many different dimensions. Just the Minbari Battle Pike technology could easily be used by Force Guardians as a favored weapon," he said, showing them a tiny round piece of metal and the push of a button it became a man tall fighting pole.

Luke could see that being useful.

"The Zat gun on the other hand," Xander shrugged, "reminds me of disruptors. If I get a chance, I could easily make a disruptor work as a Zat. Still, its ability to stun is also impressive."

Luke agreed on that. Normal disruptors had one setting only, 'Kill', and if you survived that, you would wish for death, as the disruptor dissolved the molecule bonds and so clothes and flesh would merge and become one with each other. "Yes, indeed. The technology I fear most is the ring transporter," he said.

Xander waved his hand. "I don't. Let's be honest. It's incredibly complex to build and almost impossible to copy unless you have the blue prints and an energy jamming shield can stop or block it. What we have here is an opportunity. Let Federation military starships buy already build ones and install them on Federation approved vessels. We can easily make a deal with Shesharile to build them. Increase security, have Jedi and Rangers serve duty as guards together with the normal guards. 15 % of the profit will be returned to the Jedi Order and Shesharile gets to keep the rest."

Luke nodded. "That could work," he said. "I'm still a bit unsure about the wisdom in letting that kind of technology be used, but the future said nothing against or for it."

"Good. Then we also have our super anti-targeting cloak. It's advanced, but a ship can still penetrate it. X-Wings are able to do it with a bit of help from the astromech droids or a mother ship feeding them sensor solutions of the cloak stealth. Against starfighters without that support, it's incredibly effective. The enemy has to fire blindly with no support from the targeting computer," Xander explained.

"That is something that should be carefully copied and build," Jacen said.

Xander could do nothing but agree. "I know. The Hapes or the Mon Calamari would be the obvious choice to be the builders and Hapes honestly has had better success in hiding technology."

"Yes, they have at that. On the other hand, the Hapes are still, even as they are part of the Federation, a private group and even a bit xenophobic," Jacen said and smiled. "I do have an idea. Let our allied Mandalorians build it. They might be warriors, but they have factories and engineers. Let them help build it and keep it secret."

That suggestion resulted in silence and you could hear the crickets sing.

Xander weighted the options and Luke did the same. Then Luke spoke out. "Are you sure they can be trusted?"

"It's a good way to test them as allies. This if anything should prove it. Besides, it's not a super weapon. They were a warrior race and chose this time to ally themselves with the Jedi order. As long as they get a chance to fight and win glory, they're happy," Jacen said. Of course that was a simple way of expressing it. Most Mandalorians believed peace was an illusion. You had to be willing to fight to keep the peace and only the strong could create it. The Mandaloor home world was an exceptionally peaceful planet to live on. Nobody attacked them in space or on the planet. The warrior clans made sure of that.

Xander knew Jacen wanted something from him, so finally he said. "If we're to say that I believe the 400 meter long battle cruiser in orbit, 'The Blade of Light', has something to do with you, I'd be correct, wouldn't I?"

Jacen snickered. "In a way. You're looking at the new consort to the Crown Princess in waiting, Tenel Ka Djo." The Hapes was a matriarchic society and always had a female Queen Mother in the rule. Teneiel Djo, the mother of Tenel, had married Crown Prince Isolder and become the Princess in Waiting. After her mother in law had conspired the rule to be too much for her, the two had a talk and dear old mother in law retired, rather than die in an accident.

The Hapes consortium's internal royal politics was a pit of snakes where daggers were always aimed at your back. For the Princess or Queen of Hapes, having children was a duty and taking a husband or a consort was required by law. If the current queen died, who ever married the prince had the chance to become the new queen, a reason most queens did not marry. This was also a reason why those queens who were married, always had their husbands assassinated before they themselves were murdered by somebody wanting to be the ruler. A crown prince on the other hand to be married, so they could have a new queen. As it was safer for Jacen, they had decided he should be a consort in accordance with tradition. Assassinating a consort only pissed of the queen.

Xander snorted. "So she got you then. What about Samy, is she still with you?" he asked, talking about the Zeltron girl that had more or less decided Jacen was hers. Not surprising as Samy's mom and dad were married to Danni's mother and father.

Jacen smiled. "She is with Tenel." His eyes became a bit foggy. "Remember when you got here how you and Tenel used to ambush each other all the time?"

Xander nodded. "Yes. That was only four years ago. Seems like yesterday at times and like it was a millennium ago at others."

Jacen nodded. "You were rather lost. I remember that first landing. We all believed you would crash the ship." He snorted in laughter as Xander tried to look insulted, but laughed also and then had to agree.

"To my defense, it was my first landing ever," he said. He had learned how to fly and jump all alone by entering and stealing a starship with only a Force Ghost as his aid.

Jacen nodded. "It was fun. You were so dedicated to learning that it was scary. Only Tenel and Jaina could get you away from the data pad. I've never seen a bigger geek," he said with a huge grin.

Xander nodded. "Where I came from, I had been slacker and a looser. Coming here and being stranded, I decided to be more than I had been before. Tenel reminded me of Kendra, a Slayer that had died, a friend or somebody that almost became a friend before she was gone. Your sister, she was my love. I knew it more or less from the start. She was love," he said, smiling.

Jacen smiled. "We have both come a long way. Anyway, what I was about to say. You should come by and visit us on Hapes. They truly consider you a legend over there. Tenel and her mom Teneniel have embellished your reputation. Most nobles tremble in fear from your name and the fact that you're supposed to be a protector of me and Tenel helps a lot. You should visit."

"When I get the time, I've been traveling a long time. More than four months, my brother," Xander said. He still knew he was not home yet. No, not yet. Buffy and Willow would go to K'Kruhk Whiphid, a Jedi master that could and would refine what they had learned under him.

He had a secret reason for doing that. Buffy's method of enhancing her brain seemed to be unique to her. Rona had tried it and gained only the smallest of success. All in all, Buffy seemed to be a super Force guardian. Perhaps the fact that she had been a Slayer rather than a Potential before was the reason she was now simply super charged. If anybody could explore how that worked, it was its K'Kruhk. He would have to let Riley join them as he and Buffy were married now. Which meant he had one less in the crew now, but perhaps Lowbacka could take Riley's place?

He shrugged and seeing Jaina coming near, he waved her over and turned to Luke. "Now what has happen on the Jedi Council? I understand that the Jensaarai and the Imperial Knights have representatives on it and also the Force Guardians and Force Rangers. What has happened?"

Luke rolled his eyes. "Standard politics." He was so tired of it sometimes. "Currently we're debating on the direction of the Federation and how deep a Jedi should be into politics."

"I thought it was agreed that Jedi should be involved in politics, to help keep it honest," Jaina said.

"Oh, they are allowed. It's a debate that has come up. It's silly really. They want a Jedi spokes man for the Federation, one that will represent the wishes of the Council, and now we're arguing on how and to which rules that representative should be bound," Luke explained and seeing Xander and Jaina's face he nodded. "I know, I know. As a representative of the Council he should be bound by the rules of the Council."

Both Xander and Jaina were confused. "What's the trouble then?" they both asked.

"Some members of the Council believe that we should trust the wisdom of the representative we have chosen. They are a minority, but still a loud one," Jacen explained.

"How long has this been going on?" Xander asked.

"One day only. Tomorrow we will vote," Jacen answered.

Luke snorted. "Our side will win. Our representative will have regulations on what he may or may not do. As we are Jedi, I'm going to include exceptions that may be used under special circumstances."

As the private talk was over they joined the others at the table. They were taking their repast on the balcony overlooking the beach under them.

Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa had gotten a signed holophoto from alternate and younger versions of themselves, Luke Organa and Leia Skywalker, as souvenirs from the Enterprise's "little side trip". The two of them found it hilarious.

All of them had got recordings of the Star Wars movies and even the Star Wars TV series from the B5 universe. Combined with the books, it was a gift that especially Mara Jade loved. Her giggling as she read the Mara Jade, Hand of the Emperor comic book could be heard all over the whole mansion.

Han Solo's face when he received the Falcon model kit was awesome. And a book written about the Falcon was worth hours of laughter. The book was junk, but fun, he said. But the model kit was great. He got a tub of glue and started to build it right away.

Slowly the evening fell over to night, but Luke and Xander were not sleeping yet, as the two masters still had things to do.

Most of the students and teachers at the academy knew what was going to happen.

'Snap Hiss.' The training blade in Luke's hand activated.

'Snap hiss, Snap hiss' Two custom build light saber training blades activated in Xander's hands.

The two masters walked around each other in a circling motion. Beside them the wave from the sea constantly splashed water on their feet, making the sand wet and sticky. Above them the gas giant Shesharile illuminated the night of Shesharile 5 and the beach the two were facing off on.

The two were perfectly still as they watched each other move with more than just their eyes. Then one of them acted and a gigantic wave burst up from the sea, while an earthquake like shock wave made the sand explode under Luke.

Xander slashed out with his hand, splitting the wave crashing down on him just as Luke simply surfed away on a wave of sand and then they moved.

Cut slash parry dodge kick stab parry dodge, back and forth, attack and defense.

Force push dodge and force jump.

No surrender, no retreat. The two masters where finally testing each other, rejoicing in the skill of the opponent they were facing.

For years, Xander had been overawed by Luke's skill and power, but no more.

Luke knew what talent this young man had. Still, he was decades too young to win.

The beach lighted up as the two suddenly filled the it with emerald lightning. It sparked and melted the sand under them to glass. Xander attacked, Luke parried and then Luke attacked, drawing down lightning from the sky itself.

Mighty thunderbolts aimed at Xander and ear deafening shockwaves followed him as the younger Jedi dodged for cover.

Above, the watchers looked in awe and suddenly the two Jedi smiled and lowered their lightsabers. They knew who the winner was.

"Good match," Luke said. Xander nodded. "Good match." He smiled as they walked up.

Above them Lowbacka growled out. "Who was the winner?"

The others shrugged.

As they came closer, Jacen asked, "Who was the winner? Or was it a draw?"

Luke smiled. "No, one of us was the winner," he said. "Going to bed, now," he said.

They turned to Xander who agreed and then vanished.

Jaalibe sighed. "Most likely, in the heat of the battle, they realized some mystic mumbo jumbo Force thing and decided that continuing to test their powers against each other was not necessary."

His wife nodded.

Riley looked angry and said in a complaining tone. "Hey, that doesn't tell me who the winner was."

"Must be Xander, no way the old geezer can win against him," Buffy said.

"Hey, Luke would win. Xander doesn't have a chance," Han said loudly.

Leia hmmed. Her daughter and son did the same thing. None of them was sure who the winner was.

Buffy snorted. "You only say that because you had bet money on Luke," she said, defensive of the fact that she had placed her money on Xander.

"No way, Luke is the winner and your gold is my gold little girl," Han said.

Buffy stood on her toes, growling. "Yeah, and what army is going to take it from me, old man?" she said.

Han growled back with hands on his gun. "Force Guardian or not, I'll make you eat soup, if you call me old man again." Now he was angry, but so was Buffy and the others were simply amused.

"Dad, dad," Jacen interrupted before a fight would start. "It's Luke and Xander's fault for not finishing the fight. Not Buffy's. The same goes for you Buffy."

The two calmed down quickly and said they were sorry and left to talk to Xander and Luke. They needed an answer on who was the winner.

Strange enough they couldn't find either Luke or Xander anywhere.


	21. Chapter 52

Chapter 52

(In a private pub in the swoop arena)

"Nice place," Luke said, looking at the junk from crashed swoops hanging on the wall.

Xander nodded. "Yeah, I sometimes hang out with the swoopers. Nice guys, most of them." He grinned, seeing a friend and former criminal, now working for the swoop police. "Swoop racing is more than a sport here. It's a religion."

That was true. Chaos and big fights could happen between huge hordes of fans if the wrong swoop team lost an important match.

"Good beer," Luke said happily after the match.

Xander agreed. He was happy with the match and with the winner. "Look, a new race is coming up. It's live from the Clone War arena."

Luke nodded and said, "Explain."

"Easy, each team has eight racers. Four of them race at a time and the other four are back up. If one crashes, the backup takes over. They need to go around the arena in as a short time as possible. Once they get to the switching line after two full circles around the track, the second racer takes over and races two circles around the track," Xander explained the rules.

"Like a tag team then," Luke said.

Xander nodded. "There are never more than two racers at the same time on the race tracks. The change is the most dangerous time. All teams try to make the switch at high speed. The racers or messengers as they are also called in this type of game have to hand over a bag from one racer to his replacement, so that he can continue the race without dropping the bag. When the four have done a total of 18 circles around the track the team that did it in least time is the winner."

"Interesting, is this the only type of race they use?" Luke asked.

Xander shook his head. "Hardly. It's just one of the more popular ones. There are drag races, speed tracks and other race forms exist as well. This one is a classic. Apparently they used swoops during a freedom war two hundred years ago. The swoop couriers used to exchange mail bags at full speed or so the legend says," he finished with a smile while waving the service droid over. "Two lum. What would you like Luke?" he asked his companion.

"The same," Luke said, while his eyes were locked on the big holo screen. "Ouch," he said. "That crash must have hurt," he added after a moment.

Xander nodded and with a grim voice he said, "Yes, that's going to cost them at least a two minute penalty, which could cost them the game." That was not good. His favorite team was in danger of losing against a new team from the south.

The Borasi brothers were part of the team and those two could outride anybody using a swoop. He tried against them and it was humiliating how they dominated him, keeping him slightly behind them the whole race.

Still, it was fun and he knew the different between a skilled amateur, like he was, and elite racers like them. "They have the Borasi brothers. Those two are skilled."

A voice said with a worried tone. "You didn't know? Amase Borasi suffered a crash a couple of weeks ago. They say he still isn't in perfect shape. He is flying wounded."

"Damn," Xander said and twitched. "Yes, they're in the lead again. Did you see that?" he asked.

Luke could only nod. "Did he just jump kick the other swoop bike, then somehow bounced back in to his own and safely flow away while the other swoop crashed behind him?" he asked in surprise.

Xander nodded. "That Luke is a pure Borasi move. They rule the game." Swoop racing was the best.

Luke looked at him. "You have so gone native," he said. Still, it was a good place to be, better than stay at the mansion with the others trying to get them to tell who won the fight. They knew and nobody else needed to.

Cheering filled the arena as the reserve racer showed his mettle and survived when the other slammed into him, almost spinning him of the race track.

"I was a bit surprised over the size of that place," Luke said simply.

Xander shrugged. "I'm not. I managed to help them find tibana gas in the gas giant, so they're mining that now. The fact that they now are a Jedi capital in the sector makes more ships come and trade as well. The whole Minos cluster knows where they need to go to help the Jedi and I give it back. I try to give back as much or more than I take, Luke," he nodded to that.

"I see. I guess that there is a lot of knowledge you're going to let them buy cheap," Luke said and Xander just nodded. "There is some. Yes and no, Jaina agrees on this."

"What about that Type-five implant your sister has? It's quite dangerous," Luke said.

Xander nodded. "I'm thinking of offering that to the Force Rangers and to the Federation. Who knows? They might let their special forces use it."

Luke was not pleased. "Are you sure that is wise? Giving that much power to a normal human? What if they get corrupted?"

Xander snorted. "Sure, if anything they're going to get weaker," he said and seeing Luke's surprise, he explained. "The implant super powers one natural ability the user has. Only one and you can't decide in advance which one. Most of the super rangers seem to depend a bit too much on those implants and so actually weaken their other skills and abilities by being depended on the one." He waved his hand and continued. "I know somebody who uses it the correct way would have an edge even against Jedi. But not that much of a one as the implant bio-energy charge only lasts for so long before it needs a recharge."

"Its last strength is also its weakness. Nobody knows what power the user of a Type-Five will get. It all depends on the natural ability of the body. That makes it impossible to use Type-fives to make a super soldier army. Each one has to be individually trained, depending on what the implant actually does."

Luke nodded. "I can see that. Still, it's cybernetic. Cybernetics and the Force is a bad combination."

"I saw a man who got the ability to fire a powerful electro-blaster burst with his cybernetic arm. Just a normal cybernetic implant the type-five boosted and gave a strange ability to. There's another whose super-soldier body was super charged into form shifting. Two who gained a strong PSI ability and one Techno-PSI. Then another got telepathy and ESP.

One type-five ranger in another team could move at an extreme speed. Still another got the ability to focus his Bio-energy into physical strength. One of those implanted gained the ability to read and remember information at super speed. The guy who gained super strength was as strong as a Force-Guardian. The other guy was as fast as one. The powers they get are great, but we have them already."

The younger man nodded to himself and then continued. "Yes, the type-five is more than just cybernetic. In a way its alive and I think it could be a way for the common man to know even they can get powers so they don't have to envy the Jedi as much anymore."

Luke eyes lighted up. "You see it as an equalizer?" he asked.

Xander nodded in agreement. "An exclusive and useful equalizer and to use them you've got to have a power badge, which is like a power-pack that holds extra Bio-energy and acts as an external activation control. To charge the badge you either wait until your body has naturally charged it again, which is something that can take many days, or you use a charger. A charging device is big and expensive and hard to hide and it gives one strange and extreme reading on a life scanner every time they're used."

Luke sighed to himself and said, "It's your choice. Its strength and weakness make it a formidable tool in the right hands and the need of a charging system does make it difficult for criminals to use them effectively."

Xander could only agree. The implant was not something he feared the way most Jedi did. The user of the implant seems to come to depend on them far too much and the Bio-energy charger you use to charge up the badge and the implant was huge and expensive. He would have to talk to Jaina and Danni about many things. What to do with the things they'd brought back and what to do with the fact that he was invited to the Hapes cluster.


	22. Chapter 53

Note: A big thank you again to Inachis and Hawklan for all of their work and 'A Happy New Year' to all of you.

Chapter 53

(Later back at the mansion)

"Thank you sir. I'm glad to be back and the academy was bigger and grander than I ever imagined you would build. I'm simply overwhelmed," Xander said, then listened as the person on other side spoke.

He found it a bit difficult to listen as the other guy ranted in a happy voice and Jaina him stood beside dressed in a sexy bikini.

"Of course that explains the strange appearance of the hanger building. It's not completed yet. May I ask what more is going to be added?" Once again the guy talked for quite a while. "A hill, most of it is going to be buried under tons of earth, trees and plants are going to be put on it, only one side and the roof will be seen." Seeing the other person's confusion on the screen Xander explained. "Sorry I repeated what you said to my wife."

Xander smiled. "I don't think she should come and say hello. She was going for a bath." The guy actually blushed. "Yes, as nature made her."

Outside of the man's sight Jaina giggled in her bikini.

Xander smiled. "You're wondering about the Marauder corvette? Yes, when I left we were talking about finding a vessel to carry the students around in the Minos cluster and outside of it. Then it struck me. It can be so much more if we use it as a school ship. Sooner or later the Jedi have to serve or help civilians and the military. For many that's a completely different world, as alien as any alien world out there and worse, there are no real protocols for us to fall back on. Each time we do it, each Jedi who helps military forces flies his own Swoop race. That's where that ship could be of help, to both of us."

The government politician looked curious and so Xander continued. "If we make it into a ship we own, but which is used under Navy control with the one small requirement that we can place new Jedi knights on board in small numbers and the permanently stationed Navy officers can teach them about how cooperation between Jedi and Navy should work. Perhaps the senior Jedi's could also use it as a method to give the students lesson in diplomatic relationships. We can also help create a protocol on how we should teach the Jedi to act so that the military forces understand what the Jedi are saying and the Jedi understand the officers position as well."

He loved it. Sure most Shesharile navy ships didn't travel far from the cluster and they often patrolled the space lanes inside and around the cluster, so there would be no galaxy stretching journeys for the ship. Still it would be a good way to teach young Jedi exactly how skilled those without the force are and how to interact within a military infrastructure.

"Why don't you send over the papers and let me, Jaina and Biije look them over? Yes, the Bith. Yes, it's true. He doesn't carry a real lightsaber. No sir, he knows how to use it. He's just unable to hurt other beings. I'm sorry, but I have to say goodbye. My wife is looking at me angrily now," Xander said as he turned the com off.

Jaina giggled and said, "Now, let's go to the beach."

+K+

(Later at the beach)

Beach volleyball stood on the plan. Jedi VS Jedi students, the use of force powers to improve your own speed and jump ability were allowed, but no telekinetic powers. It was a lot of fun and boy it was fast.

There was also a barbeque and other good food for the students. Jessica and Tony were helping the cooks with the food. All of them where there, only Luke, Mara and young Ben had left. Lowbacka and Chewbacca relaxed as far from the water as they could. Han was beside Leia, eating a hamburger and drinking a real Coca Cola.

Students were everywhere, it was like a dream and a nightmare all rolled up into one.

As the food was carried away by the droids, Xander waved the students to gather around him. "Hi some of you know me and others have heard of me. Perhaps some of you have no idea who I am. In that case, I'm Xander Harris Solo and together with Biije I'm the headmaster of this academy." He looked at the students. "Unlike a normal academy, this is a Jedi school and they train in the form of a praxeum." Most of the new students looked confused by the word and so he explained.

"A praxeum is a place where distillation of learning is combined with action. Here we're learning by doing. I can't teach you the force, I can only demonstrate and explain how I do it and encourage you on finding your own way. It's you and you alone that can teach you to use the force. I can show you the road, but you have to walk it yourself. How fast you learn is up to you, as you are in a way the greatest teacher you will find in a praxeum."

"One thing we do teach here is lightsaber combat. In fact any force combat. Close combat range and lightsaber is taught. Luke's Praxeum focuses on teaching how to use the Force and to teach you the three styles of the New Jedi Order, which would be the fast style, medium style and strong style. Sorry, I'm not going to do that. I'm going to teach you the old styles. Here we focus on skills you need to survive. Skills that will help you become a powerful and skilled Jedi. The force is only a minor part of what we will teach you."

He looked at them for a moment and then continued. "Now the normal question is why apologize for not teaching you the new-style and what's the difference. The new styles are fast to learn, simple and easy to build from. The old styles are difficult to learn, take a longer time and require more discipline. They are also superior in combat, but with over 10.000 years of development behind them, they should be." He gave them a look as he continued.

Closing his eyes he pulled up his lightsaber and quickly demonstrated Form 1 Shii-cho Way of the Sarlacc. After he finished with it Xander straightened and said, "If you don't mind, Jaina?"

She nodded, pulled her lightsaber and started another kata in the sand. Some were a little distracted by wondering where she hid the lightsaber, after all she was dressed in a bikini. She showed them Form 2 Makashi The way of Ysalamiri as everyone watched, fascinated, especially most of the males. She quickly switched to Form 3, Soresu the Way of the Mynock or the resilience form.

As Jaina finished this form, she said, "Your turn, brother."

Jacen walked out and started to attack, jump and dodge in a wild aggressive movement and showed them Form 4. Ataru. Way of the Hawk-bat.

After Jacen had finished his demonstration Xander walked out and started again, this time showing them Form 5 Shien-Djem-so, the Way of the Krayt dragon. After going through the form he changed his grip and started new moves, showing the Form 6 Niman Way of the Rancor.

Xander grinned. "Now that's the last one of the seven old forms. You'll find more information on them on your datapads." He waited and silently counted, one, two and three, a student wanted to say something but he interrupted him. "Yes, I only showed you six forms. The seventh is Juyo-Vaapad, a form that is balancing on the brink of darkness and a form that only a handful of people know." He looked around and saw that most believed now that he didn't know it. "There are other forms of course, called the free forms. They will be taught under some special circumstances or if needed, for instance if you are more comfortable using a lightspear than a lightsaber."

He looked around and found a small Jawa. "You might be interested in Form Sokan. It's a fighting method that focuses on using the terrain to ones advantage. Short and fast beings are extremely deadly if they master Sokan." He paused for a moment and then continued. "My favorite is Jar'Kai, a dual lightsaber form. It's related to Niman, a side version that mixes with Ataru. If any of you have the talent to use two blades at the same time, I'm willing to teach you. Just be warned, only a handful can use two blades effectively. If interested, I can also show you how to use a twin bladed lightsaber."

He saw lots of eyes glittering in the light and he looked at them again. "Luke's school is bigger than mine. He has more students and teachers. I only have a small school and teach things differently. Here we concentrate more on the physical and mundane skills, such as the use of lightsabers and the repair and even building of force armor and other things. The teachers here are trying to teach you a more practical set of skills, one that lets you improve on your own later on."

Seeing their confusion, he continued. "Once you have mastered the basic skills we teach you, all of you will be 'forced' away under the watchful eye of a Jedi Knight that will teach you further. Once that is done you are a Jedi Knight and if you return here or go to Luke, we will help you learn more of the mystical powers or just help you improve your skill with the blade. Just remember any Knight coming to my place for extra tutoring is by academy rule forced to help as a teachers' aid." More than one student grinned at that.

"Luke's way of teaching is reverse from mine. It isn't wrong and it's no worse than mine, nor is it better. It's only a different way. Throughout the millenniums the Jedi order has proven that his way produces Jedi strong in the force faster while my way produces survivors, Jedi skilled in the art of surviving, being a Jedi that in the end becomes just as strong in the force as those taught the other way. The road is only a bit longer and slower."

One student, a cute Twi'lek girl, who wasn't a day over 12 asked, "Which one is really the best?"

Xander looked thoughtful and eyed the student, almost dissecting her. "I wish I could say neither of those two paths is better than the other or that mine is the best. I would be lying if I did. Which one is the superior path of the two lies with the student. For some students Luke's way is superior and for others, mine is the better way. Did my answer help you?" But he could see it didn't help the poor cute Twi'lek student.

"As you become Jedi you will learn that the truth is a strange thing. It depends completely on your own opinions and point of view," he said before looking around. He could see the sun had vanished beneath the horizon. "Let's retire for tonight, but before we go, I must tell that all of you are going to learn six of the seven forms. Once you have mastered the basics, all you can choose to specialize. Now get going."

Jacen walked up and said, "That was fun." Seeing Xander nod, he asked, "So are you coming to Hapes?"

Xander was silent for a moment as he studied the sea. "A quick tour yes, but we have to go by and visit the Federation headquarters first." He could see that Willow was on her way and interrupted them. "I'm going to miss you all," she sniffed. "Do I have to go?" she asked, teary eyed.

Xander hugged her while Jacen looked confused. "Yes, he can show you more than I can Willow. The ship is coming tomorrow and Riley and Buffy will be there with you, alright?"

She nodded sadly.

"What was that about?" Jacen whispered.

Jaina quietly replied, "She's going to K'Kruk for lessons."

"That's a big honor," Jacen said, impressed.

"You bet your ass that Riley and I are going to watch out for you. After all, once you've seen me in action, no other force guardian is acceptable," Buffy said with a grin, which made Willow giggle.

Xander smiled. "Are you sure about Dawn?" he asked Buffy.

She nodded. "I trust you and you only. Too many so called Jedi Masters think we shouldn't teach Dawn," she hissed.

Xander smiled. "They are worried. She is irresponsible yes, but she is learning."

+K+

(Next morning)

Buffy, Willow and Riley all had entered an old ship that would carry them away. It felt sad to see them go and Biije was not that pleased with him going as well, Xander could tell that, but they knew he had duties outside the school and Biije accepted that. Especially as Jedi Master Kyle Kartan was visiting and was more than willing to whip some skill into the poor souls.

Jessica and Tony had news that shocked both Lexa and Xander. Jessica was pregnant, 3 and a half months. They had chosen to place the child inside an artificial womb and let it grow inside it. Jessica had wanted to carry the child herself, but Tony said no. As a healer he knew that she wouldn't survive the birth. The last child she had, had almost killed her and here in this universe they had the technology to make sure she and the child both would live.

Lexa was both happy and sad. Soon she would have a baby brother or sister.

The child was currently inside a tube like machine where it was slowly growing. Once inside they could see it was a small baby boy. She was overjoyed, she had a little brother and she would spoil the little rascal rotten.

A bit later after a farewell they enter the Enterprise.

Xander had hoped to see Lowbacka join them, but Biije said it would be unwise as he should take the time to get to know one or more of the new Jedi Knights and so Arden Starcave joined them as gunner and Noh Noss had taken the place as engineer in the Enterprise. The ship still felt empty though.

As they lifted off both Jessica and Tony looked with longing at the vanishing ship. Growing up in a world where they had been second class citizen had made Lexa grow up fast and hard. It was thanks to Xander, Jaina, Dawn and Anakin that their daughter was smiling so much now and her grades in school were better than ever.

Even if she had suffered on this last journey she was still jumping for the chance to be part of the Enterprise crew. Tony could see it in his daughter's eye and Jessica felt it with her empathic ability. Seeing her happy was more important than forcing her to stay with them, but still both were hurt seeing their daughter leaving with the Enterprise again so soon.

"They'll be back," Tony said while hugging his wife. Jessica only nodded sadly. She missed the emotional feeling of having a baby, seeing it grow in a cold artificial womb just wasn't the same.


	23. Chapter 54

Note: Thank you as always to Hawklan and Inachis for fixing this stuff up.

Chapter 54

(Later onboard the Enterprise)

"Coordinates are set," Lexa said from her place in the copilot seat.

Xander nodded. "Good," he said and then opened a com channel. "Enterprise to Falcon, we are ready and waiting."

"You upstart. I'm going to show you who has the best ship," Han snorted in reply before petting his control panel. "Don't fail me baby, don't fail me," he silently said to his ship.

Leia rolled her eyes. 'Boys,' she thought a moment before the two ships vanished into hyperspace. They were going to the Federation central on the planet Draenell's Point.

Xander studied the information he had about it. Draenell's Point was a colonist world, frigid and cold during winter, but with warm and long summers. It was populated mostly by humans and Borneck, a race of humanoids around 1.9 meters in height with a skin that was pale yellow to rich orange-brown, with dark yellow the most common tone. The Borneck were most famous for being hard workers.

When Xander learned about the awesome Borneck power of common sense he wondered if he could hire a team of them as personal advisers. Perhaps not, they would probably run away in terror.

When the Federation searched for a home world they offered Draenell's Point. It was a perfect match. It was populated, but not over populated, and easy to develop as they got the continent nobody lived on because it was mostly too cold for farming there. So the grand city of the Federation was build there, surrounded by a snow filled continent.

As Xander finished reading the information he walked inside the Galley.

Arden was poking his tomato plants and Noh - or was it Noh Noss? - was relaxing with a holo book.

"Hi," he said a bit awkwardly and sat down beside them. "Do you like tomatoes?" he asked Arden. "I do now. Tasted them yesterday for the first time and I liked them. You are uncomfortable, correct?" Arden said with a friendly smile.

Xander nodded. "I feel like I should know you and should have taken more time to get to know you at the academy. Sadly, I have to much to do and too little time to do it in."

"And now you have to get to know us here," Noh Noss said.

"Yeah, about that. Your name is it Noh or Noh Noss?" Xander asked, trying not to say 'No nose'.

Noh Noss straighten up, fixed his glasses firmly on top of his broad nose and replied, "It's Noh Noss, but you can call me Noh if you like, I don't mind." Actually he did mind, Noh sounded stupid, but Xander was his Jedi Master, so what could he do?

Xander, Arden and Noh Noss looked at each other until Xander said with a grin. "Well, let me show you around the ship. It's unusual."

+K+

"As you can see, we have strange things and artifacts from alternate realties. Some of them we're going to sell to the Government and others are ones I'd rather see destroyed," Xander explained during the tour.

Noh Noss was intrigued. His ability to see on a microscopic scale made his species almost perfect engineers and being trained in the Jury-Jukaki, the high school of jury rigging and junk repair, Noh Noss was good at fixing strange equipment.

The school of Jury-Jukaki, developed by the Jukaki, is dedicated to the repairing of machinery and electronics by using parts from other broken machines and electronics. Not necessarily the right part, but using their instinct, hard earned experience and their microscopic vision, a master in Jury-Jukaki could figure out what part could be used to make a gadget work.

This ship was filled with strange stuff. Sure, it was new stuff, which was not as funny as old equipment, but still fun.

Noh Noss was not a master of Jury-Jukaki, he was more or less a skilled amateur. He and his team had come in the nineteenth place in the Great junk-yard challenge on the planet Junk, the ultimate repair and jury-rigging contest.

Arden was likewise intrigued, especially with the plants Xander had stored inside. As they entered the hanger, which was currently filled with an X-Wing, Xander pulled out training lightsabers.

"So let's check your skills. You two against me and then you two against each other," he said.

The two older Jedi Knights started to smile.

+K+

(Later)

Adren groaned. "I feel humiliated," he said, trying not to sit down too hard.

Noh Noss twitched between laughing and being sorry. "I... I'm sorry. It wouldn't have happened if you hadn't tripped like that." He swallowed another giggle and then continued. "I never knew a training lightsaber could penetrate a person's pants."

Xander, who had witnessed the two battling each other, could only agree. "I've never seen a training lightsaber being stabbed so deep inside a human body." And it was a something he never wanted to see again, that was for sure. As he was trying to banish the memory, he continued. "Except for the one accident, the two of you have an acceptable skill level."

They looked at him and waited and so he continued. "What I'd like to do is work with you Adren to evolve you skills, adapting them. I think a more aggressive and faster form would be better or if you prefer a sneakier battle form."

He then turned to Noh Noss. "As for you, I can only say you need experience. You have the skill, but it's not yours. You do a perfect copy of what another person said you should do, absolutely picture book perfect. It's time you take that knowledge and make it into your own skill. I'm willing to help you train in doing that."

Adren, who had found a pillow to sit on, wasn't too sure about his willingness to help.

"Just one question. Are you sure the two of you are experts or have even trained in lightsaber combat?" Xander said, hiding his smile.

The two did look insulted before they started to laugh. The sound of an argument interrupted them as an irritated Rona stormed into the room.

"What is it?" Xander asked.

Rona snorted. "Nothing, Lexa and I were just arguing. If combat is what we are going to be doing, we have a problem. Half the crew is missing."

Xander nodded.

Rona was needed at the up cannon. The down and up could be linked and she could use them both, but still, two gunners were better than one.

Lexa being the only missile trained gunner would have to handle both the torpedo and the missiles. That was possible, but not the best choice either.

Xander nodded. "Well, in combat I think I would have to handle the flying by myself. Arden will take down gunnery. Danni is more useful as sensor ops."

"I'm not bad as a missile gunner. I could help there," Noh Noss said.

"Alright, Rona take Noh Noss to Lexa and start a training program," Xander said.

"Yeah sure Xander. Come on No-Nose," she said, pulling him after her.

"If needed I'm not bad with a sensor system or piloting. I'm a trained fifth class transport captain. Noh Noss is a first class transport pilot," Arden said. Sure, the laser cannon would be his duty, but on the other hand it was always good if the captain knew you had more than one skill. Fifth class wasn't much, more a rank amateur who needed a copilot, but he was still improving.

"Let's hope no fighting starts for now," Xander said.

Looking at the time he walked into the kitchen, it was his turn to make dinner. As he walked in, he realized another reason why he would miss Riley... the food.

+K+

(Next day)

The two ships floated over Draenell's Point on their way down to the Federation space yard landing spot.

"I tell you, the Falcon was here at least five minutes before your Enterprise," Han said over the com radio.

Xander rolled his eyes. "You got to be blind, old man. We arrived nine minutes ago and there was no Falcon at all. Just suck it up. My ship rules, yours drools."

Han growled in anger and so did Chewbacca. "Let me make it clear, I can out fly you, outsmart you, I'm much better dressed than you and my wife is better looking than yours. Unlike you, I'm not color blind," he said, thinking about his son in law's awfully colored armor.

"Awful? Hey I dress good. And outsmart me? Hah! And no way you could out fly me or out dress me," Xander defended himself over the com.

Beside him Jaina was angry. Did... did her dad just insult her looks?

Around them lots of ship had opened the com and listened in to the argument. It was fun.

"You out dress me?" Han said "I happen to know that it's Danni and Jaina, my daughter, who buy all your clothes. Seemed she inherited my good taste in wardrobes," he snorted.

Beside him Leia looked up at the still scruffy looking nerfherder she married. The only reason she did not interfere was that the argument was fun.

Xander rolled his eyes. "Yeah, unlike you, I'm not a scruffy looking scoundrel with to big an ego."

"Scruffy looking? Listen punk, I can out dress you anytime, anywhere. You're nothing but a color blind scoundrel," Han said, irritated.

"I am not color blind. My armor is perfectly colored," Xander defended himself.

"Come on! If you have the ability to see color my wife is a Rancor," Han snorted. "Your lack of color coordination is so bad it makes a Hutt look small."

They were interrupted from ground control. "While we find it amusing that neither of you deny being a scoundrel... Enterprise do keep 20 Mglt and course 12.25-19 landing yard fourteen. No deviations. Falcon 25 Mglt, course 12.25.20, landing yard fifteen."

Beside Han Leia sat fuming.

Han snorted. "Hah. My ship is moving faster than yours in the line."

"That's pathetic, you're just bribing the flight controller," Xander whined.

The voice interrupted again. "Correction Enterprise. Keep 10 MGLT. Course 12.25.19, landing yard fourteen."

"Crap," Xander said to Han's amusement.

Jaina sighed. "Good going."

Danni nodded. "Yes, good going."

On the ground the listeners could not believe that this was a famous General and a scary Jedi Master, behaving like schoolyard children.

+K+

(Later, after an unnecessarily long landing)

It was a cold area of the planet and the city was so new it was shiny. It looked good, with Alderaanian designs on many buildings while the parks and towers were inspired by Bith design.

The group walked side by side, the repulsor waiting for them. Han and Xander in the back laughed and argued about the pro and cons of the different ships.

"Seriously, you're falling behind Han. I can give you some stuff. Like your own teleporter and a Minbari targeting cloak. You helped me after all," Xander said to his father in law.

Han nodded. "Fine, but the Falcon is still the best. I have 120 Mglt cruising speed and 0.5 hyperdrive."

"Yeah, 110 mglt. 0.5 hyperdrive and Class 4 shield," Xander said smiling.

"Yeah, me too. I also have the new copy-cat missiles installed," Han added.

"Um... What the hell is that?" Xander asked.

"Expensive missiles that create a holo-picture copy of your ship complete with fake sensor readings. You shoot away one and suddenly the enemy sees two Falcons. You shoot away five and the enemy sees six Falcons," he grinned.

Xander snorted. "Well, I have the Asgardian holographic sensor system. I can project far away and see and hear what the holo sees."

"I win," Han said, that was so not Hyper.

Xander paled. "Damn it," he should have said organic hull. After offering Solo the ring-transporter system and the cloak, his right to brag about them vanished and now Han Solo was victorious again.

Beside them Lexa giggled. "At least his main gunner has a power up device inside the ship."

The Nogri seeing where this was going said, "And I have a jet pack inside."

Lexa giggled and added. "I have an extra pair of shoes."

The Nogri smiled. "They are amusing, arguing like that." He could see that both Han and Xander where having a lot of fun with their little contest. So much fun that they even helped the other improve, just for kicks.

The two talked and joked the whole way to the Federation Hall, the HQ of the Federation.


End file.
